Should We Censor Art?

As defined by wikipedia, “Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect. It encompasses a diverse range of human activities, creations, and modes of expression, including music, literature, film, photography, fashion, and drawings.” And because art comes in many forms and approaches different subjects, some pieces can be controversial. Those works that push the boundaries may be seen in a negative way, but they should not be taken down.

Who is to really judge what is considered to be art? If an artist creates something that expresses or conveys a message important to them, who is to claim that their work is not artistic? This is where censorship becomes an issue. Mike Lenhart words it perfectly in his article, Should Art or Design Be Censored?, where he says, “I feel when an artist’s work is banned, or censored, that there has been a disservice done to them… Art needs to be viewed as art, and not some sort of subversive or pornographic display.” Art needs to be viewed as a piece of work with a message meant to be heard.

At School of the Art Institute Chicago (SAIC), student Anne Marie Lindquist’s art piece caused much controversy within the student body. The school itself supports its students freedom of expression and condones the exercise of censorship, but this did not stop one of her fellow classmates from removing Lindquist’s advertisement postcards displayed in the school buildings. In Peer-on-Peer Censorship within Arts Education, Amanda Aldinger explains that “although provocative and graphically sexual, Lindquist’s installation is technically sophisticated and encased within a framework of intellectual and critical means, placing her work far outside the realm of the gratuitous.” Lindquist’s art piece has a refined message well distinguished for a student. Yet, offended by the provocative picture, the unknown student tore Lindquist’s pictures down and hid them from the public eye. The intention of the piece is just as important as the final product and it is because of this misunderstanding that people reacted in a negative way.

People cannot help but have strong opinions and reactions to art, specifically those found to be controversial. But what those people do not realize is that that is what art is meant to make you do: feel. And to discourage that expression and freedom of creativity is more terrible than displaying a picture of a woman’s anatomy.