Re:"Art" or "Venus de Milo vs. Velvet Elvis"

[P3D <scooter@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I for one, while I don't find anything inherently offensive about 
nudity, don't think nude subjects belong in general competition.  

I have seen projected slides that as an audience member, I would 
rather have not been subjected to.  I was fully aware, that there were 
others in the audience who enjoyed these same "art" slides quite a 
bit, judging from their comments.

I think one should tailor the subject matter to the audience. The 
slides I am talking about would have been perfectly appropriate in a 
presentation of female nudes.  I would then have the choice whether or 
not I wished to be present. I should add that I was a newcomer to the 
group and did not feel I was in a position to criticize.  I may not 
have been horribly offended, but I was certainly squirming in my seat. 

I don't want to criticize others for their own personal tastes in 
"art", it is truly one of those areas where beauty is in the eye of 
the beholder. I for one could do without the nudie shots sneaked into 
a general presentation however. At the risk of sounding silly, way too 
many of them look "tawdry" despite the artists best intentions(IMHHO).

I think the female form can be beautiful to look at as well as the 
male form, but the images I saw had an undercurrent of sexuality that 
was not particularly appealing to me. Reminiscent of the feeling I get 
when I imagine my parents having sex.  UGH!!! (Even though I'm 
grateful they did!)

Why take the chance of offending members of the audience when it's 
really not necessary?  Why show slides that may be appealing to 75% of 
the audience, yet perhaps disturbing or unpleasant to the other 25% 
(unless one's intention is to do just that?) If someone is going to 
disturb or annoy me with an image, I'd sort of like to know it was for 
a good reason. 

Sure, I'd like to take some "art pictures" and show them to an 
appreciative audience, but I'd never in a million years try to show 
them to a "general audience".  (I would probably only get a 15% 
positive response rating in an anonymous poll!)

If slides of nudes are going to be shown, I think they deserve their 
own special show and people should know up front about it.  I'm sure 
that a minority of nude slides transcend all boundaries and would be 
appreciated by most, but I betcha they are few and far between.  I 
would be against a hard and fast rule against nudes, but I don't think 
they should be encouraged.  Otherwise one risks lowering competition 
to the lowest common denominator-maybe not such a good idea.  Suffice 
it to say that if you could study an audience and really get a chance 
to know all of them, maybe you would think twice about submitting that 
"art" shot.   

I think there is a place for such "art", I just don't think it's place 
is a general audience.  So, count me against censorship, but count me 
in for "courtesy".

I hope that my comments have not offended anyone in any way, it's just 
how I feel and my vote on the subject.   :-)

Steve Owsley.



 


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