Art and obscenity / Kerstin Mey.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mey, Kerstin.

Series:

Art and-

Art and--

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Obscenity (Law).

Art and society.

Erotic art--Social aspects.

Erotic art.

Social aspects.

Physical Description:

x, 182 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Other Title:

Art & obscenity

Place of Publication:

London ; New York, NY : I.B. Taurus, 2007.

Summary:

Explicit material is more widely available in the internet age than ever before, yet the concept of "obscenity" remains as difficult to pin down as it is to approach without bias: notions of what is "obscene" shift with societies' shifting mores, and our responses to explicit or disturbing material can be highly subjective. In this intelligent and sensitive book, Kerstin Mey grapples with the work of twentieth century artists practising at the edges of acceptability, from Hans Bellmer through to Nobuyoshi Araki, from Robert Mapplethorpe to Annie Sprinkle, and from Hermann Nitsch to Paul McCarthy. Mey refuses sweeping statements and "kneejerk" responses, arguing with dexterity that some works, regardless of their "high art" context, remain deeply problematic, while others are both groundbreaking and liberating.

Contents:

Chapter 1 'I Know It When I See It': On the definition and history of the category of the obscene 5

Chapter 2 Transgressive Rituals 19

Chapter 3 Abjection and Dis-ease 31

Chapter 4 Violent Images: Aesthetic Simulations 52

Chapter 5 'Playing with the Dead': The cadaver as fascinosum 72

Chapter 6 Anti-Normative Acts: Radical liberation? 86

Chapter 7 Obscenity and the Documentary Tradition 97

Chapter 8 Recycled Fantasies: Obscenity between kitsch, convention and innovation 105

Chapter 9 'Know Thyself? 116

Chapter 10 Digital (Counter-)Currents 129

Chapter 11 Cyber-(ob)scene 146.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [171]-176) and index.

ISBN:

1845112350

9781845112356

9781845112349

1845112342

OCLC:

71658989