View Full Version : The iconoclasm and disrespectful imagery thread
bojendyk
06 Feb 2006, 08:32 AM
Because I don't want to see bigsoccer burned down, I'll only post links. Add what you'd like.
Here's the cartoon that's currently spreading like wildfire:
http://www.uriasposten.net/pics/JP-011005-Muhammed-Westerga.jpg
bojendyk
06 Feb 2006, 08:33 AM
And who isn't yearning to revisit this classic:
http://www.thecityreview.com/s00conc2.jpg
flowergirl
06 Feb 2006, 07:52 PM
And who isn't yearning to revisit this classic:
http://www.thecityreview.com/s00conc2.jpg
i can't tell what that's supposed to be. i mean, obviously the crucifiction, but.. what am i missing?
Matt in the Hat
06 Feb 2006, 08:01 PM
i can't tell what that's supposed to be. i mean, obviously the crucifiction, but.. what am i missing?
Its swimming in urine
flowergirl
06 Feb 2006, 08:03 PM
Its swimming in urine
all right. if you say so.
JBigjake
06 Feb 2006, 10:58 PM
It's swimming in urine
Sad but true. Also underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts & defended as a work of art by some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ IIRC, there were no violent outbursts or demonstrations, just outrage.
nicodemus
07 Feb 2006, 01:35 AM
There was also Chris Ofili's multimedia "Holy Virgin Mary" painting incorporating elephant feces and close up photographs of female genitalia cut out and intended to look like cherubim and seraphim.
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/gallery/2001/05/29/ofili.jpg
That was the one Giulianni got involved in.
JBigjake
07 Feb 2006, 02:53 AM
http://www.renewal.org.au/artcrime/pages/c_ofili.html
Someone later covered it with white paint, was fined $250, an amount crticised by some artists! Apparently they were less than appreciative of this act of guerilla theatre or art-on-art!
nicodemus
07 Feb 2006, 12:37 PM
http://www.renewal.org.au/artcrime/pages/c_ofili.html
Someone later covered it with white paint, was fined $250, an amount crticised by some artists! Apparently they were less than appreciative of this act of guerilla theatre or art-on-art!
I didn't remember that. Still, defacing a paiting is better that arson.
GringoTex
07 Feb 2006, 01:00 PM
Sad but true. Also underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts & defended as a work of art by some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ IIRC, there were no violent outbursts or demonstrations, just outrage.
Never has a great artistic movement begun without masses screaming "not art!"
BTW- Mel Gibson used the same color palette as Pissed Christ in the crucifixion scene of Last Temptation.
oman
08 Feb 2006, 04:03 AM
all right. if you say so.
Ah youth.
oman
08 Feb 2006, 04:12 AM
Never has a great artistic movement begun without masses screaming "not art!"
BTW- Mel Gibson used the same color palette as Pissed Christ in the crucifixion scene of Last Temptation.
It should be noted that the Piss christ artist also used the color palette in other works. The rather mundane juxtopostioin of bodily fluids and the crucifixion to me is a bit more meaningful in terms of the place and duty of christians in the age of AIDS -- must a Christian immerse himself in blood and despair in order to acheive some sort of higher good?
In the end, Andres Serrano doesn't have a body of work that is any near as interesting as Mapplethorpe of hundreds of other artists who don't rely on such lurid imagery.
oman
08 Feb 2006, 04:14 AM
Sad but true. Also underwritten by the National Endowment for the Arts & defended as a work of art by some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ IIRC, there were no violent outbursts or demonstrations, just outrage.
At least the recent outrage of the Muslims isn't borne out of ignorance.
Barbara
09 Feb 2006, 07:23 PM
Never has a great artistic movement begun without masses screaming "not art!"
BTW- Mel Gibson used the same color palette as Pissed Christ in the crucifixion scene of Last Temptation.
Jeez, you are still sick. Mel Gibson had nothing to do with Last Temptation.
Dr. Wankler
09 Feb 2006, 09:26 PM
So apparently are the rest of us who missed Gringo's rare movie goof.
flowergirl
10 Feb 2006, 07:33 AM
Ah youth.
when did this come out? i'm not that young.
Yankee_Blue
10 Feb 2006, 09:07 AM
BTW- Mel Gibson used the same color palette as Pissed Christ in the crucifixion scene of Last Temptation.
Gringo deserves a mulligan due to past post quality...
oman
10 Feb 2006, 10:07 AM
when did this come out? i'm not that young.
1987 according to Big Jake's link.
The piece caused a scandal when it was exhibited in 1987, with detractors accusing Serrano of blasphemy and others raising this as a major issue of artistic freedom. On the floor of the United States Senate, Senators Al D'Amato and Jesse Helms expressed outrage that the piece was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, since it is a federal taxpayer-financed institute.
Serrano produced other similar works to much less controversy; Madonna and Child II (1989), for example, in which the subject is similarly submerged in urine, is not nearly so well known as "Piss Christ".
Piss Christ is often used as a test-case for the idea of freedom of speech, and was described in the journal Arts & Opinion as "a clash between the interests of artists in freedom of expression on the one hand, and the hurt such works may cause to a section of the community on the other." [1] It is referred to in many popular publications including Bill Maher's book When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden.
(And ha, I can't believe Gringo mistook Last Temptation for Life of Brian.)
DoctorD
10 Feb 2006, 10:22 AM
What about Yahweh? Can I write Yahweh without BigSoccer burning down?
Isn't there some Hindu prohibition as well (besides the cow thing)?
Disrespect the Emporer of Japan?
flowergirl
10 Feb 2006, 05:54 PM
1987 according to Big Jake's link.
The piece caused a scandal when it was exhibited in 1987, with detractors accusing Serrano of blasphemy and others raising this as a major issue of artistic freedom. On the floor of the United States Senate, Senators Al D'Amato and Jesse Helms expressed outrage that the piece was supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, since it is a federal taxpayer-financed institute.
Serrano produced other similar works to much less controversy; Madonna and Child II (1989), for example, in which the subject is similarly submerged in urine, is not nearly so well known as "Piss Christ".
Piss Christ is often used as a test-case for the idea of freedom of speech, and was described in the journal Arts & Opinion as "a clash between the interests of artists in freedom of expression on the one hand, and the hurt such works may cause to a section of the community on the other." [1] It is referred to in many popular publications including Bill Maher's book When You Ride Alone You Ride with Bin Laden.
(And ha, I can't believe Gringo mistook Last Temptation for Life of Brian.)
thanks for the background. i was 9. guess i probably wasnt into controversial art pieces back then. they had to grow on me. :)