It's A Thin Line Between Art and Porn

There exists a thin, very thin line between what is viewed as porn and what is viewed as art. Much of what your about to read is admittedly very subjective, but hey, when has that ever stopped me from taking on a controversial subject. Although the lines have blurred a bit in recent times, okay they have blurred a great deal in recent times, there are some universal things I think we can all agree on. The most important thing we can agree on is that this new breed of artist could care less what you think and could give a flying f#@% less about what offends you. Full disclosure, it's all on the table here.

Just to be crystal clear there existed a time when the previous generation could guilt and shame the present generation into moral compliance. What I'm talking about is a time when the present generation would slightly push the moral boundaries of the previous generation and then eventually submit to the shame riddled attacks and fall back to an acceptable level of moral compliance. Well, I'm here to tell you, the wheels have officially come off the cart. The moral compass that once guided societies behavior has been broken and thrown in the deepest part of the ocean. Like it or not, embrace it or not, its here and you may as well get accustomed to it because the toothpaste is out of the tube (it doesn't go back in).

So since we agree the toothpaste isn't going back in the tube lets try to at least define whats porn and whats art. A good place to start is usually agreement of definitions for both. Here is my proposal for the working definitions. Porn: printed or visual material containing the explicit description or display of sexual organs or activity, intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings. Art: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. Okay now lets spend a minute and dissect this.

This is where the water gets a bit murky. This is when the difference between what is porn and what is art becomes so individualized that artist are forced to walk and cross the lines at different times and most often times not know what side of the line they are even on. Is it

considered pornography if only a small segment of the population see it that way? The picture on the left is sexually suggestive. I think we can all agree on that and based on the definition sited above probably falls more in line with porn then art for a certain amount of us. Just hold on for a minute. This photo as suggestive as it may seem lacks some key components to be described overtly as pornography. This photo is as much art as it is pornography based on the accepted definitions. Although it's suggestive it can be a work primarily appreciated for it's beauty or emotional power. It's completely determined by the eyes of the observers.

Remember, the true artist is a person that is willing to produce art that provokes emotion from the viewer. To provoke emotion artists naturally walk the line between what is accepted and what is considered unacceptable. Just keep in mind what you may consider porn someone else sees as art. A great piece of art will often times have you torn on what it is. Those of you that can't stomach women or men scantly dressed, well you may as well lock yourself in your closet and try to take a time machine back to the 50's because your about to be really offended.