Banned Art and Dangerous Artists

mapplethorpe-patti-smith.jpg

” ‘Art’ disappears as society thrashes in reproducible culture.”
Baudrilliard, Beyond the Vanishing Point of Art

Patti Smith sings Cobain

15 Responses to “Banned Art and Dangerous Artists”


  1. 1 Katherine Sullivan Aug 28th, 2007 at 11:40 pm

    http://philinthecircle.com/
    ^ Not explicit whatsoever, but may be considered offensive (politically?). I personally find him enlightening and intensively creative. Enjoy.

  2. 2 Katherine Sullivan Aug 28th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    (good example: Bible Interpretation Number 2)

  3. 3 MaryRyan Aug 29th, 2007 at 2:49 pm

    I actually really liked the song sung by Patti Smith by Cobain. I thought the beat and the way the song sounds was really interesting in its meaning. I feel like even though I didn’t completely understand the lyrics, the all around sound and flow of the song was enough to hear the anger and saddness. That may be wrong, but the rhythm of the song and the way she sang it went perfectly and was a big help to understand the song.

  4. 4 Sam Aug 29th, 2007 at 6:27 pm

    I also dont feel as though I understood the lyrics, but I liked the sound the song made.
    I also really dont understand why some of the paintings are banned? I wonder who they offend.

  5. 5 Christina Aug 29th, 2007 at 8:22 pm

    I don’t understand why that painting was banned either. I didn’t feel as if it was offensive at all.

    I liked the song. I liked Kurt Cobain as well. I don’t think lyrics, paintings, and such should be banned.

  6. 6 Brodie Aug 29th, 2007 at 8:31 pm

    i thought the picture/painting was beautiful. i didn’t find it offensive at all and i really thought the color contrasts and the use of different lighting was amazing. the song was really cool as well! i’m not a huge curt cobain fan but i thought it was really interesting.

  7. 7 Melissa Aug 29th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

    I liked that version of the song! I could understand the words a lot better. I also don’t understand why art is banned; I guess anyone could find almost anything offensive, but as long as the viewer is warned about how graphic the art is, shouldn’t that be good enough?

  8. 8 Ali Summers Aug 29th, 2007 at 11:55 pm

    This version of the song was interesting because I could actually hear the lyrics, which gave me a better understanding of what the song was about. As for the picture, I think it is beautifully done and have no idea why it would ever be considered dangerous and banned.

  9. 9 Elyse Aug 30th, 2007 at 8:12 am

    I don’t think the song or the picture are particularly offensive. The picture is simply a portrait of a woman- aside from the fact that her sleeve is pulled down over her shoulder on one side, it is perfectly normal. I don’t think either of them should be banned.

  10. 10 Emily Aug 30th, 2007 at 9:39 am

    Patti Smith singing Cobain’s lyrics was pretty amazing. This version of the song flowed a lot differently than Cobain’s but it allowed the words to come through easier. Neither the pictures nor the song were offensive to me but I could understand how people wouldn’t want to hear some of the song lyrics because they ring so true.

  11. 11 Brodie Aug 30th, 2007 at 12:51 pm

    http://www.artcrimes.org

    ^ graffiti site. i’m a graffiti writer so i spend a ton of time on this site, i hope you enjoy it.

  12. 12 Kelly Aug 31st, 2007 at 11:00 am

    i like the picture. it’s simple and not overdone. the sepia versus the black and white makes a nice contrast. it almost looks like two identical pictures from seperate generations. almost…
    as for the song. i think i preferred cobain, but he doesn’t enunciate quite as nicely.
    that’s probably why the song is considered offensive when sung by patti smith. you can understand what’s really being said.

  13. 13 Sam Aug 31st, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Oh I love that site! Ive never heard of anyone else on that site. Sweet.

  14. 14 Marina Sep 3rd, 2007 at 3:55 pm

    Brodie, I noticed your comment about tagging/graffiti art, and I wanted to add to that. I’m not sure if anyone here has ever heard of Banksy, but his politically charged and intricate graffiti is gorgeous!

    http://www.banksy.co.uk

  15. 15 Brodie Sep 3rd, 2007 at 5:39 pm

    ACTUALLY banksy is a friend of a friend of mine. a good friend of mine, john got arrested early last summer for graffiti and became really famous. he actually knows banksy. we can talk more about it in class or something, i dont really want to mention it over the internet.

Leave a Reply





Spam prevention powered by Akismet