Thursday, October 24, 2013
Media Advisory: Carnegie Mellon's Center for Arts in Society To Host Lecture on Performance Art and Censorship
Carnegie Mellon News - Carnegie Mellon University: Carnegie Mellon University's Center for the Arts in Society (CAS) will host Lisa A. Freeman for a lecture on performance art and censorship.
Freeman, associate professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago, will present "Adjudicating Bodies in Public in NEA v. Finley," in which she will discuss the 1990 controversy involving four performance artists whose National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) grants were revoked because their projects were found to violate the agency's newly adopted "decency and respect" clause. The amendment to the NEA's grant approval process required the NEA chairperson to only reward grant applications that "take into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public."
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2 comments:
Yes, some art may be inappropriate for some audiences and in those specific instances, maybe the artist should consider some censorship or better yet hold the art piece in a place where it won't be seen by specific audiences. I'm all for free speech but I do think there is a fine line between an artistic statement and disrespect. However, if you are a big arts organization whose goal is to fund the artists and therefore promote growth and exploration of the arts, I'm not so sure you should be putting censors on what your artists do. In fact, I think censoring those artists does the opposite of promoting growth, rather, it stifles that growth.
I absolutely want to go to this presentation! Not only do I want to find out more about the case and how it played out, but because we are an adapting culture that needs to learn how to be open. Freedom of speech may be a part of this, but also the fact that we are creating art. When a government agency becomes involved it does become more complicated, especially if they are doing the funding. I frankly do not want art to be censored if I help fund it unless it is racist or derogatory in a negative way. We need to push boundaries and explore, and we can only do that if we are open. What does the general body of America state is acceptable? Not the Laramie Project? If we are for the arts then we should be for it whole heartedly. Make a statement, make an art work, make a change, do good and not evil?
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