Getting To Know It

While researching the issue of erotic art I have come to an understanding that only the onlooker can decide for his or her self whether or not the piece, to them, is art or pornography. Because there are so many different views in the world and so many different opinions there is no way to categorize certain works of art into one category or the other. A perfect example is the more conservative way many Americans look at art as oppose to Europeans.

Around the world art takes on many styles and forms. One new age type of are is the of the cartoon kind. Many women are used in this type to show a sexual body. These women are drawn with muscular bodies, large breasts, thick thighs, and little to no clothing. In the eyes of many this is art. From this point forward I am planning on finding some type of balance and general consensus of art as oppose to pornography.

Defining Art

There are many ways to define art in words. The most common way is for the audience to determine what the piece means to each individual. The way art makes one feel is a good starting point. Terms like sad, happy, amazed are some of the more common words used. The definition of each word is obvious, but when it comes to art, each word can take on many different meanings.

In art which is sexual, words such as seductive, erotic, explicit and many others can be used. The importance of defining these words is to have a common understanding of them. However, all of these words may have a small common understanding but they are also widely open to interpretation. What is erotic to one may be plain to another. As long as the authors definition is plainly laid out, it will be easier for the audiamce to understand what is being portrayed.

Sex in Advertising

One of the most popular advertising slogans to date is "sex sells". So this means, for a product to sell or sell well, some sort of sexual material should be connected with the product. It is very easy for a company to use an image, which is intended as artwork, to add a sexual nature to the product. The image I attached is being used to advertise for a web site. In some aspect this image can be considered art. There are no explicit body parts being shown, and yes, it is obvious the two are in a sexual position, however there is something soft and artistic about the image.

Due to the fact this image is being used on a website that involves sexual questions, many Americans would think of it as pornographic. This website is based out of the UK and images like this are looked upon in a more liberal sense. It is diffidently safe to say, many Europeans can look at an erotic image and see art in it, as many Americans look at an erotic image and see pornography. There is no right or wrong in this situation....just a matter of preference.

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/sex-doctor/css/sex-life150209.jpg

Ancient Art or Pornography

www.gadling.com posted an article on May 18, 2010, written by Sean McLachlan, describing the artwork found in a bath house in Pompeii. Many brothels in Rome are prime examples of old world pornographic art work. As to no surprise this bath house is no different. The only detail which sets this bath house apart from others is the idea that this bath house was not segregated by gender.

In the article the author describes the generalization of artwork in ancient brothels and bath houses. The artwork in this particular bath house is similar to those found around Roam except there seems to be more three and four party sex images in the art. These pieces of art give the idea this bath house may have been more of a stop for prostitution. "The changing room in these baths had cubbyholes for storing clothing. Each one was decorated with lively scenes of straight sex, group sex, oral sex, and just plain acrobatic sex."

This article proves my point of sex in art. Through out history art work has had sex in it. However, this type of art work seems to be more of pornography than art. Today people consider these paintings art, if an artist was to paint this image today, not many would consider it art but porn. This again is the issue of determining the line of art vs. pornography. Where is the line and who decides?

Art or Porn?

According to Author and Professor of Art, Kelly Dennis, the line between art and porn is not always clear. In Dennis's book , Art/Porn: A History of Seeing and Touching, she tries not to determine the distinction between art and porn , but trying to see why so many people want to distinguish the diffrence between them. Her publication on the issue and her cridentials more than qualify her as a credible source on the topic of "Art or Porn?". Dennis looks back as far as ancient times in the Renaissance up till the new age of the internet.

Professor Ayman Fadl, a professor at Cairo University (1990-2006) with an MA in Architecture, also explains the ancient froms of art. Fadl's speciality is in the ancien Egyptian art forms, to include Architecture, Crafts and Sclptures, Paintings, Literature, and Music. In his article on Egyptian art Fadl tells about the diffrent styles of art from the early Dynastic period up until to the Ptolemaic period, including the sexual types of art in which was common for this era.

Art/Porn: A History of Seeing and Touching- Kelly Dennus
www.aldokkan.com/art/art.htm

New York City Museum of Sex

In New York City there is a museum of sex which houses over 15,000 pieces of sexual art, to include a sexually explicit piece from Picasso. A dominatrix tool was added to this collection a few years ago, a brushed steel bondage machine, donated by Marie Coughlin, also known as Domina M. (New York Times, 4 May 2010) It was not the issue of her donating this piece that caused an uproar with some people, it was the fact she received a tax deduction for her donation. It turn out some people do not believe sex machines are considered art. If a hunk of medal designed by an artist is donated to an art museum is it not art? Who is to decide what art actually is? The definition of art, according to www.dictionary.com is "the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance". There are many people who would consider an instrument of sex a piece of expression or at the very least "more than ordinary". Art is one subject which holds no boarders and its beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Sex in art is extremely common and should be viewed as amazing, not something to be hidden away because a certain group of people do not want to see it in public or in museums.

the quality, production, significance". A sexual instrument can be appealing to many people and can surely be considered more than ordinary. I do not know many average people who have a sex machine in their