Pittsburgh Arts, Regional Theatre, New Work, Producing, Copyright, Labor Unions,
New Products, Coping Skills, J-O-Bs...
Theatre industry news, University & School of Drama Announcements, plus occasional course support for
Carnegie Mellon School of Drama Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni.
CMU School of Drama
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
Art or censorship? Expo shows just top of famed David statue
Las Vegas Sun Newspaper: One of the most talked about attractions at the world’s fair under way in Dubai is a towering statue made of marble dust that’s raising eyebrows just as the original did more than 500 years ago.
2 comments:
Jeremy Pitzer
said...
First of all, I had no idea that the world’s Fair was still a thing. I suppose I just kind of thought of it as a thing that happened in like 1950 and never again. I imagine its going to be very exciting considering the marvels of modern science and art. Regarding the true topic of this article, I honestly found the piece rather silly. For so long I’ve filled my life with an abundance of queer art which is often much more risque than Michelangelo’s David as art made about the intimacies of one own queer body is a common form of revolution in the community. Reading about these prim and proper art people freaking out about a marble dick, in both opinions seems menial to me. THe fact that some of them talk about liberating the statue’s genitals as some passionate battle against censorship of art is disappointing to me, because I know that these same people wouldn’t fight against the misogynistic and transphobic strictures of the social media art-scape or the censorship of queer art in general around the world.
Over the last 2 weeks I've been perusing the Dubai World's Fair website looking at all the interesting events and exhibits that are and are planning to be opened and so far this is the only one that disappointed me. The David has been a subject of controversy for hundreds of years and it seems like the expo is sitting on the wrong side of history and censorship. If they had chosen to only include the David as a bust or only allowed those with general admission tickets to view it in full rather than leaving that access to the entire visage to the VIPs I would support its use. But given the history of nudity, I feel like it's doing the art a disservice to hide its entirety. Echoing the article, I agree that allowing only high paying visitors the opportunity to see the entire statue is wrong. Limiting viewing in this way sexualizes the statue. Nudity is natural and the implication that only a select few can see below the chest implies that the whole body is scandalous. I also disagree with the VIP viewing because as a large part of the Italy Pavilion it's kind of unfair to limit general admin from viewing. If it were an interactive experience I would understand the idea of paying more but just to see a copy of famous statue...why the higher price tag?
2 comments:
First of all, I had no idea that the world’s Fair was still a thing. I suppose I just kind of thought of it as a thing that happened in like 1950 and never again. I imagine its going to be very exciting considering the marvels of modern science and art. Regarding the true topic of this article, I honestly found the piece rather silly. For so long I’ve filled my life with an abundance of queer art which is often much more risque than Michelangelo’s David as art made about the intimacies of one own queer body is a common form of revolution in the community. Reading about these prim and proper art people freaking out about a marble dick, in both opinions seems menial to me. THe fact that some of them talk about liberating the statue’s genitals as some passionate battle against censorship of art is disappointing to me, because I know that these same people wouldn’t fight against the misogynistic and transphobic strictures of the social media art-scape or the censorship of queer art in general around the world.
Over the last 2 weeks I've been perusing the Dubai World's Fair website looking at all the interesting events and exhibits that are and are planning to be opened and so far this is the only one that disappointed me. The David has been a subject of controversy for hundreds of years and it seems like the expo is sitting on the wrong side of history and censorship. If they had chosen to only include the David as a bust or only allowed those with general admission tickets to view it in full rather than leaving that access to the entire visage to the VIPs I would support its use. But given the history of nudity, I feel like it's doing the art a disservice to hide its entirety. Echoing the article, I agree that allowing only high paying visitors the opportunity to see the entire statue is wrong. Limiting viewing in this way sexualizes the statue. Nudity is natural and the implication that only a select few can see below the chest implies that the whole body is scandalous. I also disagree with the VIP viewing because as a large part of the Italy Pavilion it's kind of unfair to limit general admin from viewing. If it were an interactive experience I would understand the idea of paying more but just to see a copy of famous statue...why the higher price tag?
Post a Comment