Though censorship in art is not nearly as much of an issue as it was pre-2000’s, it still rears its ugly head on occasion, with nudes sometimes being thought of as inappropriate, art being too graphic, or the truth of a matter being too harsh to deal with.  Considering that censorship is quite common among some religious communities, I find it odd that it is so difficult to find anything in writing about why some individuals feel this way.

On the other hand, it is quite easy to find anti-censorship articles all over the internet.  Most artists feel insulted at being censored or limited in how they express themselves.  I will try to express both sides of this argument, but my sentiments lay with the anti-censorship movement.

As near as I can tell, most censorship activists find that some things are too mature for children to see, or too revolting to look at, anyway.  Robert Sherer’s first incident with censorship was in 1989 with his thesis gallery “Re-Presentations” which displayed male figures in common female poses.  The Christian Coalition has challenged nearly every one of his galleries since, stating that his works are recruiting youth into homosexuality, or disturbing God’s natural order.  Neither of these statements apply to his work as he saw it when he created them, nor do they imply anything very sexual.

Fortunately the internet has created a massive community that the government itself cannot control in terms of censorship (except in China).  Artists can express their political opinions on the internet through design without much fear of government censorship or legal action.  The only exceptions to this rule are censorship within public schools and copyright infringement (which is wrong anyway).

Typically a public school system will not allow nude art of any kind to be shown within a classroom, whether it be a student wanting to study the nude figure from a purely artistic perspective, or nude art photography from well-respected photographers.  The justification behind this is typically to protect students from offensive material, though who is to judge this, I am not entirely sure.

The anti-censorship movement is a much more talkative front, and it seems that many organizations such as the ACLU and Individual Visual Artists Coalition are much more active in fighting wrongful censorship than any censorship movements.  Zara Arshad wrote an interesting article for AIGA that discusses the ever-increasing violation of free-speech rights across the world, particularly in the UK and USA.  She explains that now is the time to “design for the masses.”  In other words, let designers push the envelope and see what happens, there is no point in hiding the truth as the artist sees it.

Mike Lenhart wrote an article for ArtBistro.com that shares a similar perspective.  While Arshad wants to empower the people again, Lenhart simply believes that everyone has a right to free speech.  While a designer can create something, the viewer can choose not to see it.  Personal liberties and open minds are crucial to the survival of art and creativity.

One slightly more conservative view on the matter was written by Carlos Centeno for RELEVANT Magazine.  Centeno is a Christian graphic designer who doesn’t believe in others censoring his work.  As he puts it, “Truth [...] should never be censored because the moment we try to tame it, it becomes fabricated truth — in other words, it becomes deception.”  He goes on to explain that he does censor how the truth is communicated, though.  He feels that he can communicate the truth in a mild manner so as not to insult anyone.

My opinions on the matter are mixed, though mostly in the anti-censorship arena.  I think public schools and conservative parents should be more open-minded.  I think conservative people should try to be more open minded, and if not, then turn the other cheek, so to speak.  What are your opinions on censorship in general?  Censorship in art?  Let’s hear some feedback.

Bookmark It