Artistic Nudity

Artistic censorship is the downfall of high school artwork. The classroom is being subjected to rules which limit the subject of students’ work. Censorship creates a naive and uneducated society, which in turn produces more and more generations of naive children. When a person puts their art out in the public to be judged, just that should happen. It should not be covered or hidden, censored or discarded. Art is impractically criticized based on its subject. It should be looked at as one person’s opinion, not a public’s fear.

You are lying naked, exposed and vulnerable on a hard, uncushioned wooden floor. Your innermost feelings and opinions are painted out for the world to see; you can do nothing except accept the ruthless opinions of others. Exposing yourself to the public places an indescribable pit in your stomach. It puts you in the most defenseless of positions. Your beliefs are too radical. In turn, the common man suppresses them, and your vulnerability increases. You are shut down, pushed aside and hidden in a closet where you will sit to collect dust.

Your opinions are there with you. They are unwanted by the outside world, and therefore, censored. Did you hear that dirty word just come out of your mouth? It was appalling; your mother would be ashamed of you. Censored. What were you thinking? Nothing should be censored. Nothing should sit pushed aside. It should all be out for the world to see, and to criticize. Your opinions, your artistic opinions, put into a tangible form should never, ever be hidden. Censorship is best defined as when an individual is forced to “suppress their own values, attitudes and beliefs. (Anderson and Garoian, 1996). It is the black rectangle that covers nudity, the obnoxious bleep that blocks out profanities and the curtain that discloses art work. In high school classrooms, the issue of art censorship has become increasingly prevalent in the last ten years. (Kushner, 1999). Educators, high school staff members and community critics have begun to draw a line segregating what is acceptable and what is not. That line is continually getting tighter, meaning the level of acceptability is becoming more and more strict.

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Technology, warfare, politics and drug use are all maturing; with this, comes the maturity of high school students’ opinions. Then, in turn, comes advancing art: which many older (and often more conservative) people find shocking or offending. Art is created to appeal to or offend different interest groups. Artists intentionally compose their pieces to “challenge the assumptions of the audience [and] provoke reaction and discussion. ” (Anderson and Garoian, 1996). Provocation is the one and only reason to ever create a piece of art.

If, for any reason, this provocation is censored, it depletes the entire artistic background of a work of art. Art without meaning is simply decoration. In the classroom, suppression is forcing art to fit into a square box, “devoid of all values. ” (Garoian and Anderson, 1996). Radical viewpoints are by far the most effective way for an artist to gain attention from an audience. When these viewpoints are unable to be viewed, people are no longer attracted to art. Censorship eliminates public interest in art and increases the naivety of a society.

All over the country and more so all over the world, people are afraid of new ideas. They are afraid of encountering real, exposed-to-the-bone artistic nudity. This fear embeds itself in our entire culture, forcing censors to eliminate things we supposedly don’t want to see. Simply eliminating things that are different creates a very innocent society. Without being exposed to new things, we become victims of the censors, and that is never a good thing. So as the future progresses, my art work will continue to push past the black censor bar.

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