Wednesday, August 06, 2003 AD More Thoughts About Nüdity in Art Rule #57: Never jump into an online conversation if you don't have time to finish the discussion and fully explain yourself.
Rule #58: If you disagree with what someone says on a forum, let her know there. Don't drag it over to another forum to beat her over the head with. That's just tacky.
Those aren't rules about nüdity in art, but about Internet etiquette. And I'm breaking both of them. 1) I may not be in town long enough to respond to everything that might arise from this post, and 2) I'm obviously criticizing on my blog the guy who dragged my comments from one forum to another to beat me over the head. The links in the above rules provide some background for what follows. Here are more good thoughts on the topic.
1. I never once found myself lusting after a nüde model of either gender sex. Anyone who has that problem to a greater degree than with the general public, and finds he cannot quickly overcome it, ought to switch to landscapes or still lifes. I hope I would have had the integrity to do so.
2. I would rather draw women than men. Women's bodies are just more aesthetically pleasing to me as an artist. Doesn't mean I've got any desire to jump into bed with one. That illustrates the possibility of differentiating between something being aesthetically pleasing and being sexually provocative.
3. There is, to an extent an acknowlegement of sexuality when drawing a nüde, because you are drawing sexual organs. At least unless you do the thing my drawing teacher used to roll her eyes about -- leaving blanks. Something tells me that the students who did that might have been having more trouble differentiating between the beautiful and the merely sexual.
4. I acknowledge that others might be more prone to stumble in this area. I have the utmost respect for anyone who does have such a tendency and guards himself by avoiding nüdity in art.
5. I wish such folks could imagine that it's really possible that there are others who do not have such tendencies -- to believe us when we say so and to refrain from accusing us of being little better than pĝrnĝgraphers.
6. I will respect such folks by refraining from exhibiting my nüde drawings in public places where they might be stumbled upon unawares. I would not put one in my living room, or in my offices at work or church, or on my blog. I might, however, at some point hang one in my bedroom, where strangers are unlikely to wander, or post some on a separate page of my site, with a clear statement of their presence. I'd have no objection to their being hung in an art gallery, though I've no reason to suspect such a thing will ever befall them.
7. This places some responsibility on the shoulders of the folks who are more likely to stumble. If you can't stay out of a clearly denoted "nüde art area," your problem is more than a propensity to stumble; it's a discipline issue. If you were someone who felt the need to abstain from alcohol, I wouldn't wave a beer in front of your face, but neither would I pour all my beer down the drain for fear you'd fall into sin. All sorts of things can tempt people, so it'd be very difficult indeed to create temptation-free zones.
That's all for now. I may add more later. Posted by Valerie (Kyriosity) at 8/06/2003 04:14:00 PM
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