While scanning controversies to write about, I stumbled across this little gem at Journal Sentential online.
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| Screen shot from my computer, August 27th |
In essence, Nik Johnson (an artist from Shorewood, Wisconsin) created a controversial portrait of Pope Benedict XVI out of 17,000 colored condoms. It was initially a commentary about sexual ethics and the former Pope's controversial comments on AIDS when he visited Africa in 2009. The artwork, cleverly titled "Eggs Benedict", has been met with a mix of outrage from the Catholic community and argument for free speech. More than 14,000 people (as of July, 2015) have signed a petition against showing the art work calling it "disgusting" and insulting to the Christian faith. The beautifully crafted condom mosaic is a piece meant to force people to have a provocative discussion, and has bloomed into a discussion about the relationship between religion and art and the issue of censorship.
As an Art History major, controversies about the acceptability and definition of "art" interests me greatly. It's more than a silly shock image of the former Pope constructed from condoms (obviously a taboo, since premarital sex is considered a sin), it's call for discussion about sex and the church's view of sexuality. I find the entire piece and the arguments for an against it incredibly interesting.
This is a very interesting idea. Obviously, we as Americans have the liberty to express our ideas in the form of artwork. This just happens to be one person's opinion of the Catholic Church and the Pope's ideals.
ReplyDeleteDespite what it is representing, it is a pretty incredible piece of art, and obviously Nik must have felt very strongly about what he feels the image is representing in order to put this much effort into the work.
But not only do we have the right to express our ideals freely (within some limitations from the law) we have the freedom of religion, so not everyone has to show the pope the same level of respect as say a catholic would.
Being a Catholic myself, I do not necessarily take a great deal of offense to this image as it is one person's opinion. I know what my ideals and opinions are and that is what counts.
But I did not initially look at the argument from a, "What is art," perspective but rather an emphasis more on religion. Hearing your views made me think of another side to the argument.