Should artists have complete freedom to develop visual images on canvas or digitally with immune? Or should we limit what they say and how they say it through censorship? What is too much for the public and who decides? What's too explicit, too violent, or just too unnerving? Art inspires, provokes and even offends, but should it ever be censored? Merriam-Webster defines censorship as "the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and removing things that are considered to be offensive, immoral, harmful to society, etc."
To understand censorship, and the impulse to censor, it is necessary to strip away the shock epithet value that is attached to the word at first utterance. One must recognize that censorship and the ideology supporting
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These days, though, we ought to be a little more skeptical about claims that we need protection from moral pollution. Whether exposure to controversial content can adversely affect the morals of the viewer is a question that is open to scientific analysis. The vital question to ask would be: is viewing material considered abhorrent by the community alone sufficient to turn a moral person into an immoral one?
Freedom of Expression. The art world -- a realm populated by masterpieces often hailed for their transgressive, controversial and taboo characteristics -- regularly butts against standards of decency and good taste in the fight for freedom of expression. Throughout history works of art have been altered, silenced and even erased due to unacceptable content, whether the motivations for censorship were religious, social or political, yet artists have long pushed boundaries of "offensive" through their imagery and content. Elizabeth Childs
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UN Declaration of Human Rights, article 19.
Conclusion
What is at stake for all those who care not only about art but about freedom of expression and speech, as well is the distinction between censorship and morality, has to be explored and analyzed to the need for tolerance in the face of offense as well as respect for others' rights and cultural differences.
Art is subjective and means something different to every single person on earth. To visualize a piece of art takes place within the mind and is modified by individual bias, not the influence of others, for we perceive and judge art differently. Therefore, freedom of expression should be allowed to override any censorship and leave morality to the individual.
References
Bolton, Richard (Editor) Culture Wars: Documents from the Recent Controversies in the Arts. (1992). The New Press: New York, NY. Pgs. 12-15.
Childs, Elizabeth C. (Editor). Suspended License: Censorship and the Visual Arts. (1998). University of Washington Press: Tacoma, WA. Pgs.
Putting concrete limitations and rules on what an artist can and cannot use when expressing their opinion of another artist’s work is unconstitutional. If we put a price on the freedom of speech, we place a fine on our liberties.
People can have many different opinions depending on a topic, but what is truly difficult is getting a complete level of understanding from every opinion, or understanding the point of view of each opinion. Even accepting the points of view can be difficult for some people, who believe that their opinions are right. Luckily, people can learn about the other person’s frame of reference, and at the very least understand the topic or the person a little better. This particular topic is art, which is known for its multiple possible perceptions or its many different messages that it can send a person or group of people. In this way, people can learn more about the thought processes and feelings of others. Unfortunately, with differing opinions,
What is censorship? An encyclopedia defines censorship as "the control of what people may say or hear, write or read, or see or do1." There are many reasons why people censor entertainment such as literature and music. Many governments or groups try to preserve their standards of morality by preventing people from learning about or following other standards2, commonly found in the two previously mentioned mediums. There are different ways to censor things. It can be on a local level, such as libraries refusing to carry a controversial book. It can also be on an entirely larger scale. In the 1770’s, French author Beaumarchais had two of his plays, The Barber of Seville and The Marriage of Figaro, banned by King Louis XVI.2 Back then, these plays were considered outrageous and sometimes blasphemous. To fully understand how our system of censorship works today, we have to look into history to see how censorship got started.
The 'Blood'. Strategies for Dealing with Censorship. Art Education, 49(5, Essential Questions), pp. 115-120. 57-61.
Whether it is music, TV, movies, or video games; in the end it is all art, and art should not be
Censorship is the practice of officially examining books, movies, etc., and suppressing unacceptable parts. Which parts are considered unacceptable, depends entirely on the person viewing them. One person may censor violence, nudity, and certain types of language on television, while another may block the comments section on their social media page. All censorship consists of taking something,
The censorship of art was a common occurrence during the time of the reformation, and can still be seen in modern times. Strong emotions towards art can create a push people to protect or destroy work. Most works are meant to elicit some form of emotion, be it love or hate . David Freedberg is an author who looks at people’s relationship with art. In David Freedberg’s The Fear of Art: How Censorship Becomes Iconoclasm, Freedberg evaluates how the destruction of artworks can give hints at the historical use and function of the art piece and how people interacted with it. This review will discuss how Freedberg tackled the psychological response of the viewer, and the social and religious impacts leading to iconoclasm. While there is scholarship on iconoclasm, Freedberg brings Northern Renaissance and modern events such as the one’s involving the Bamiyan Buddhas and the iconoclasm of Murray’s The Spear of Africa together, as well as discusses the censorship of the artworks and the possible causes.
In the present day, Americans have had to realize what the word “freedom” means. Whether it is recognizing our freedom as American citizens and defending ourselves against a growing threat of terrorism, or protesting war as we attempt to protect another country’s plea for freedom, all Americans have looked closer at the definition of freedom. In this heightened age of freedom and evaluating our constitutional rights, it is interesting that censorship is still a controversial issue. Perhaps the most significant examples of censorship take place in the arts. While the First Amendment considers censorship illegal, there are many ways that censorship still occurs in visual art, theatre, television, and film. Perhaps film has the most organized system of censorship found in the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Chris Roth writes in his article “Three Decades of Film Censorship…right before your eyes”, that censorship by ratings is a serious First Amendment issue that deserves debate and action. The article poses many questions about the MPAA and the restrictions it places on director’s creativity. However, the most important issue it addresses is our freedom as American citizens to promote, protect, and view a diverse mosaic of ideas on screen.
Retrieved January 5, 2014 from http://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/culture/philosophy/art-censorship-and-morality 3. Mother and child devided. (n.d.). Astrup Fearnley Museet. Retrieved January 5, 2014 from http://afmuseet.no/en/samlingen/utvalgte-kunstnere/h/damien-hirst/mother-and-child-divided 4.
of art, are removed or kept from the public. Censorship also occurs when materials are
Hence, censorship is essential in society to eliminate discrimination on basis of race and gender, protect children, maintain stability and restore what censor sees as lost moral values. Censorship occurs when expressive materials like books, magazines, movies, videos, music or works of art are restricted to particular audiences based on their age or other characteristics. http://www.ala.org/oif/intellectualfreedeomandcensorship.html) Censorship is not a recent development. It wasn’t imposed properly or there weren’t strict regulations before.
Based on this creator-centric definition, one may claim that art is purely a form of individual expression, and therefore creation of art should not be hindered by ethical consideration. Tattoos as pieces of artwork offer a great example of this issue. However, one may take it from the viewer’s perspective and claim that because art heavily involves emotion and the response of a community after viewing it, the message behind what is being presented is what should actually be judged. To what extent do ethical judgements limit the way the arts are created?... ...
Censorship has been around since B.C. times and originated in Rome. Censorship was enforced to protect our society by not allowing explicit content to be viewed in the media. It also protects child pornography and secret government information leaks. The problem is in some cases are hard to determine on what should be censored because even though something might be explicit content it portrays the point the publisher is trying to make. On the flip some people believe that these extreme crime scenes seen in media have caused people to commit these crimes in real life. Although the article, Broadcast Decency Rules delivers a somewhat convincing and effective argument, I disagree that the media should be censored.
...net availability and television shows watched. Censorship has a great deal to do with drugs, societal values, or violence. But people also need to know the difference between right and wrong, and knowing how to behave correctly is what affects society. Seeing someone shoot someone else on television is not going to make me go out and kill someone. But, being brought up thinking that the only way to get ahead in life is to steal or kill people then a person may do those types of things, and that is media influence. There are certain key elements in the media that help maintain the entertainment alive and add to the excitement to movies and other programs. However, pornographic material, extremely graphic violence, and shows that give ideas to people that would encourage them to engage in actions that are harmful to themselves or other people should be censored.
...e impact of certain art before we even censor it based on our own beliefs.