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Art or Porn

Started by Cythieus, September 21, 2009, 07:47:21 AM

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Cythieus

There has been nudity in art for a very long time, yet more recently nudity has become a taboo in art and sometimes isn't allowed to be seen by children because of the supposed sexual undertones that nudity caries to some.

My question is: What constitutes art and porn? What separates the two when the line is so blurred by what art means and when porn can be such a broad thing too?

The Overlord


That’s why it continues to be such a furious debate, because the line between them is often very fine and indistinct.

Offhand I’d be tempted to say that art tends to be more tasteful than porn, but that’s not really the definition, as I’ve seen very good examples of tasteful and artistic porn.


I have to say the whole thing annoys the hell out of me; we have to fight this conservative racket to knock any nudity out of art. I even got flack for it once at school, for IMPLIED nudity (the picture frame cut off about the shoulders on a female subject and did not even show breast, much less nipple, the fact that it was brought up at all proves my instructor was an idiot.


I tend to think if the work of art, photography, etc. is made for the clear and obvious purpose of arousal, then it’s likely porn, but even that isn’t a perfect definition.

September

http://www.ratepornorart.com/

It shows you a nude and you choose whether it's art or porn in your opinion.  Once you've rated it you get to see what everybody else thought.
Some of my ons.

Hunter

I've always thought that as a general rule if it wasn't suggestive and/or nudes then it really doesn't qualify as porn....

And not all nudes are porn either.

September

Having thought about it I think I'd say that porn is a type of art.
Some of my ons.

Trieste

As far as I'm concerned, art vs. porn is like determining between classical vs. thrash music; they are both the same medium, but they clearly are going to appeal to varying tastes.

An 'artistic' nude is going to be a study in the body, with nakedness being only a secondary characteristic. Porn is going to be about the nakedness, about the eroticism. Can they overlap? Of course - and they often do. That's pretty much the root of the problems with Miller v. California and the Red Rose saga.

Red Rose is one of the scarier cases pertinent to Elliquiy. It gives me chills to think of Vek having to go through that.

Edit: It took me three fucking tries to post that. >:E

The Overlord

Quote from: September on September 21, 2009, 05:10:35 PM
http://www.ratepornorart.com/

It shows you a nude and you choose whether it's art or porn in your opinion.  Once you've rated it you get to see what everybody else thought.


Broken page.

September

Some of my ons.

The Overlord


Ah NM, the pics are Flickr linked, and not all load from the onset. Page refresh is getting them to show.



For the record, I rated not a one of them as porn. Many were just artistically beautiful. Some were borderline suggestive, IMHO, if a couple of them had showed actual penetration I might have clickied porn.

Hunter


Cythieus

Some things can be both too, I mean it doesn't have to be one or the other. If its simply what's mean to turn someone on, what if artistic turns you on?

Will

I think of artistic photography as having some sort of play on light or color, or positions that highlight the shape of the body.  Something to interest the artistic eye, not flood the genitals with blood.  And yeah, I totally agree that art and porn can overlap, and I actually wish it did more often. XD
If you can heal the symptoms, but not affect the cause
It's like trying to heal a gunshot wound with gauze

One day, I will find the right words, and they will be simple.
- Jack Kerouac

The Overlord

Quote from: Will1984 on September 21, 2009, 10:17:14 PM
I think of artistic photography as having some sort of play on light or color, or positions that highlight the shape of the body. 


There's actually a lot of ways to produce artistic photography. It's different than charcoals, ink wash, digital, oils, acrylics, gouache, and even 3D, all of which I have done, but at the end of the day it's just another brush. You have to learn its limits and rules, and then you take off with it...

ShrowdedPoet

. . .Most of that I thought was art.  But I really think that porn is just a different type of art.
Kiss the hand that beats you.
Sexuality isn't a curse, it's a gift to embrace and explore!
Ons and Offs


Brandon

Most of that I thought was art. I only consider it Porn when I see actual sex happening. Penetration of any kind is porn IMO. Kissing, fondling, holding a person and/or staring into their eyes, two people naked, and similar things are more art IMO.
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

The Overlord


All depends on the content. If it’s some trashy little Britney Spears type with enough face and naval piercings to set off metal detectors 100 feet away being banged by some tattooed little gangster bitch (which a lot of common web content has degenerated to) that’s not porn, it’s just carnies and white trash photography….absolutely no class.

Show me something inventive and I’ll pay attention.

Trieste

... and then there are those of us who feel that tattoos and piercings are just another form of art, with the range of taste and trash that art entails. :)

ShrowdedPoet

Yeah.  Tats and piercings are beautiful and hot!  *follows Tri*
Kiss the hand that beats you.
Sexuality isn't a curse, it's a gift to embrace and explore!
Ons and Offs


Brandon

Gonna have to agree that tatoos and piercings themselves are a form of art. Bodily art, but art all the same.
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

The Overlord

Quote from: Trieste on September 22, 2009, 12:25:12 AM
... and then there are those of us who feel that tattoos and piercings are just another form of art, with the range of taste and trash that art entails. :)

Yes and no...somehow in a few short years we went from underground to universal with this form of art. Everything in moderation, expect there is no moderation with tattoos and piercings now.

For me it’s like the rise of alternative rock in the 90’s; it was supposed to be the alternative to what the radio was playing, and at some point it was everywhere and lost its edge and appeal. That’s where I sit with this topic.


This is not the 21st Century I was expecting; that society would end up looking like a band of carnies, crackers, and circus freaks. I’d rather we be at war with killer robots or an omnipresent government, like the books predicted…

ShrowdedPoet

I have tats and piercings. Does this make me a carny or circus freak?
Kiss the hand that beats you.
Sexuality isn't a curse, it's a gift to embrace and explore!
Ons and Offs


Valerian

Let's not wander too far from the original post -- and let's also refrain from sweeping generalizations on any subject, please.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

ShrowdedPoet

I think that the word art is extremely general and covers a huge number of mediums.
Kiss the hand that beats you.
Sexuality isn't a curse, it's a gift to embrace and explore!
Ons and Offs


The Overlord

Quote from: ShrowdedPoet on September 22, 2009, 08:14:07 AM
I have tats and piercings. Does this make me a carny or circus freak?

You tell me. Once again, I'm talking about those who carried it way too far, and they're all around us.


You know who you are.

Valerian

The original post gives the impression of wanting to focus on nudity in art, though perhaps the poster didn't mean to be quite so specific.

In any case, I don't think anyone's arguing that such body modification is pornographic, per se; so any discussion of whether piercings and/or tattoos are tasteful or not should go in a different thread.

*ahem*
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE