From an artist’s perspective I feel deeply unsettled at the amount of censorship we have to face simply because people don’t want to appear to offend. The reason we are so ‘offended’ is because we’ve been told what to be offended by and so my rant continues…
Its not often that something so stupid really gets me outraged but I don’t think I can sit back and say nothing. Reading on the BBC website today I was shocked to discover that supermarkets are to be covering the Manic Street Preachers latest album with a blank slipcase because apparently the artwork is deemed ‘inappropriate’.
Ok so take a look at the artwork, yes I’ll admit that it can look as though the girl has been beaten and is splattered with blood, on the other hand it also looks like an artistic style has been applied to this image. Jenny Saville the artist that did this piece has a verty distinct style in which you can see the brushstrokes in the shapes that she paints. Again if you see any of her other work you can understand my meaning which by the way is shown in many art galleries to which the same public can see at anytime. My point is that REGARDLESS of what the image is representing it should not be covered up. I see a fantastic piece of artwork that instantly brings a reaction to the eye, beautiful brushstrokes and an amazing style. The immediate reaction for the supermarkets to hide this image immediately presumes that it is supposed to depict something we SHOULDN’T see and who’s to say that should be so?
We as a society are increasingly being wrapped up in a blanket and protected from the dangers and realism of the outside world. We are told what to see and what not to see, our minds are being made up before we even have a chance to judge for ourselves. It’s the same in the media with headlines pushing the ‘FEAR FACTOR’ and constantly scaring society with news of attacks, bombs, wars and more.
I suppose one my main gripes about this is that even before its been released to the public, the decision has been made to censor something that hasn’t even had a complaint. I sincerely hope that we can all get off our asses and stop worrying about who’s offending who and start to create and make each other think more.
So what do you think, were the supermarkets correct to censor the artwork?
– Jason
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