Dangerous Poem ?
THE POOL PLAYERS. SEVEN AT THE GOLDEN SHOVEL.
We real cool. We
Left school. We
Lurk late. We
Strike straight. We
Sing sin. We
Thin gin. We
Jazz June. We
Die soon.
From The Bean Eaters by Gwendolyn Brooks, Harpers. 1960.
The poem above was banned in West Virginia and Nebraska schools. Written by Gwendolyn Brooks, one of America’s finest poets and the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize in poetry, the poem was banned for the line “Jazz June” which was taken to be a metaphor for sex with a woman named “June.” In a 1983 reading at the Guggenheim Museum, Brooks points out that the poem has been, “banned here and there because of the word ‘ Jazz’… ” and, while she was not making a reference to sex, she jokes, “ I have no objection if it helps anybody.” In fact, she says she was trying to capture what she imagined was the attitude of these seven young men, the pool players, who she thinks are “contemptuous of the establishment…” and, “ I represented the establishment by the month of June.” Some have argued that the misinterpretation that led to the ban reflected a “white centric” misunderstanding of the context, others that it was simply racism, others argued that even if the poem did contain a sexual allusion, it should not be banned.
How do our ideas of art and culture render some things “visible” and others “invisible”?
How do our ideas about art determine not only what we count as art but how we understand and evaluate art?
“The incorporation of these works in the West’s world of museum culture and its art market has almost nothing …to do with postmoderism…the ideology through which they are incorporated is modernist: it is the ideology that brought something called ‘Bali’ to Artaud, something called ‘Africa’ to Picasso, and something called ‘Japan’ to Barthes…(…Oscar Wilde once remarked that ‘the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, no such people). What is postmodernist is Vogels muddled conviction that African art should not be judged ‘in terms of [someone else’s] traditional criteria.’ For modernism, primitive art was to be judged by putatively universal aesthetic criteria, and by these standards it was finally found possible to value it. The sculptors and painters who found it possible were largely seeking an Archimedean point outside their own cultures for a critique of a Weberian modernity. For postmoderns, by contrast, these works, however they are to be understood, cannot be seen as legitimated by culture-and history-transcending standards.”
Kwame Anthony Appiah, “The Postcolonial and the Postmodern,” from In My Father’s House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992), 147-8.
“Two very different discursive formations—the discovery of African art and the constitution of the object of African studies, that is, the “invention” of Africanism as a scientific discipline—can illustrate the differentiating efficiency of such general classifying devices as pattern of reality, designation, arrangement, structure, and character…Portuguese sailors brought to Europe the first feitiços, African objects supposedly having mysterious powers, in the late fifteen century. One finds them mostly in well-organized curio cabinets along with Indian tomahawks or arrows, Egyptian artifacts, and Siamese drums…On the whole, these objects are culturally neutral…It is not until the eighteenth century that, as strange and ‘ugly’ artifacts, they really enter into the frame of African art….”
V.Y.Mudimbe, The Invention of Africa: Gnosis, Philosophy, and the Order of Knowledge (Bloomington: Indianan University Press, 1988), pp 6-12.
Censored Mural
From National Business Review John Daly-Peoples | Friday April 3 2009 – 12:55pm
Andy Leleisi’uao, Le Onoeva – Misunderstood Aitu
Whitespace
“Art censorship is alive and well in Manukau City. A recently completed mural by Andy Leleisi’uao one of the country’s leading Pacific artists has been rejected by the local community.
He had undertaken the Mangere East Community Centre mural project with funding made available from the ASB Community Trust and the Manukau City Creative Community Scheme earlier this year. The 25 metre mural was to replace one which he had painted 14 years ago but which had deteriorated because the original materials were not suitable and had not be protected against graffiti. After discussions with the centre he produced the 25 metre painted mural on Marine ply for the site.
At the point where the work was almost completed the artist was advised that the community did not appreciate or understand the work and he was requested to produce a more acceptable work.
A delegation of members of the community was invited to view the work which was set out in the centre and to pass comment on it. A majority voted to oppose its installation. The artist is now required to repaint the old mural, his payments are withheld and he awaits the return of the rejected mural.
But the public has not been totally denied seeing the artists latest work as many of the images that he has used in the mural are can be seen in his current exhibition Le Onoeva – Misunderstood Aitu at Whitespace.
His work has always been confronting and controversial with a strong social concern to it providing a window to the realities of life for Pacific people and particularly Samoan living in New Zealand. They suffer the problems of the migrant worker and the social dislocation which creates social problems for many. But he also highlights the issues of family violence and the oppressive and destructive roles of the churches in Pacific communities. At times his work was raw and obvious, a screaming at injustices that he saw. In these more recent works though the voice is more moderated and rather than a Pacific voice the works have a more universal theme of social and moral dysfunction and alienation.
The title of the exhibition refers to “aitu” which are ghosts or spirits and presents an ambivalent view of the misty worlds of the spiritual. The impression one gains is that the invented gods and spirits of the Pacific and the Christian religion are figments of our imagination and the things that motivate and define us are held within us. These Armageddon-like landscapes blaze with colour and energy and akin to a medieval dance of death where the common folk are worked up into levels of hysteria about the coming end of the world and a vengeful god…”
[Full article at National Review.] For more of this artist’s work, see his homepage.
UMW’s Production of the Laramie Project
Read Kevin McClusky’s comment, posted at the bottom of this page, about the attempts to prevent the UMW Theatre and Dance Department’s production of the Laramie Project; the attacks included the dissemination of a “Press Release” containing extremely offensive and hateful language.
Dangerous Music and Dancing
Why was this man so dangerous?
The Rite of Spring, ( Le Sacre du Printemps) caused a riot when it was first performed in 1913. Produced by Serge Diaghilev, founder of the famous Ballets Russe, with music by Igor Stravinsky, choreography and dancing by Vaslav Nijinsky, and set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich, the work was so challenging to its French audience that the booing started from the first opening notes, played by a bassoon. The innovative music, scenes of pagan Russia, and evocative and almost violent dancing—including a young maiden who dances herself to death as a sacrifice to the gods—were shocking to some, though exciting to others. As some in the audience booed and shouted during the performance, others as loudly and energetically defended the performance, resulting in fist fights and eventually a riot that required police intervention. Today, the work is considered to be not just a masterpiece, but its first performance a major historical cultural event. Stravinsky’s music is viewed as an important 20th century work, Nijinsky’s dancing is acknowledged as brilliant, and the set is considered a significant example of modern theatrical design.
In 1987, the Joffrey Ballet performed a full restoration of the work to critical acclaim. You can watch extensive clips of the performance and see an excellent example of how this work might have looked and sounded.
The New York Public Library has an on-line exhibit of Nijinsky’s life and work.
The Rolling Stones Street Fighting Man Banned in Chicago, 1968
Saturday 31 August, 1968
‘Street Fighting Man’ is released on 45 in America. Fearing that the song may incite violence during the forthcoming National Democratic Convention in September, Chicago radio stations refuse to play the song.
http://pscelebrities.com/mrr/streetfight...
Mick: “I’m rather pleased to hear they have banned ‘Street Fighting Man’ as long as it’s still available in the shops. The last time they banned one of our records in America, it sold a million.”
Keith: “The fact that a couple of American radio stations in Chicago banned the record just goes to show how paranoid they are. Yet they want us to make live appearances. If you really want us to cause trouble, we could do a few stage appearances. We are more subversive when we go on stage.”
Mick: “They told me ‘Street Fighting Man’ was subversive. Of course it’s subversive. It’s stupid to think you can start a revolution with a record. I wish you could.”
From: Mark Paytress, The Rolling Stones: Off the Record (Omnibus Press, 2003)
Horror
How can anyone be frightened by what they know does not exist?
Why would anyone ever be interested in horror, since being horrified is so unpleasant?
Study the so-called “Black Paintings” by Goya as you consider your answers to the two questions above, posed by Noel Carroll in The Philosophy of Horror.
Banned from Constitution Hall
Marian Anderson was one of the great singers of the 20th century. Classically trained, her contralto voice was considered one of the most beautiful of her day and she became nationally and internationally known through both her recitals and opera performances. In 1939, her manager, Sol Hurok, booked her for a performance in Washington, DC’s Constitution Hall, the premier venue for performances in the nation’s capital. When the Daughter’s of the American Revolution (DAR), who owned Constitution Hall, learned that a booking was being made for “a singer of color” they refused.
There was an immediate outcry–First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt (pictured here with Anderson in the video), resigned from the DAR and arrangements were made for Anderson to give a public, free performance at the Lincoln Memorial. On April 9, 1939, over 75,000 people heard Anderson sing and it was also broadcast live over the radio to an estimated one million listeners. In addition to some traditional arias, Anderson also sang a memorable version of “My County ‘Tis of Thee.”
More on her life and some examples of her singing from an exhibit at the library at University of Pennsylvania.
Additional sources: AfroCentric Voices in Classical Music; Kennedy Center
Entartete Kunst–Degenerate Art?
This work “Purim” by Marc Chagall was considered “degenerate” and was banned and censored:
As was other work by Chagall.
“In 1937, in order to purge German museums of their holdings of “degenerate” art, Joseph Goebbels, Minister for Propaganda and Public Enlightenment, charged a commission headed by Adolf Ziegler, one of Hitler’s favorite artists, with the seizure of works of German “degenerate” art created since 1910 owned by German state, provincial and municipal museums. Although the primary focus was on German art, the Ziegler commission’s reach soon expanded to encompass non-German artists such as the Dutch abstract painter Piet Mondrian. The confiscated art was gathered in a huge exhibition in Munich to educate the German people about the “evils” of modern art, and especially its alleged Jewish/Bolshevist influences. Marc Chagall’s Purim, confiscated from the Museum Folkwang in Essen, was one of the paintings selected for this infamous exhibition, entitled “Degenerate Art” (Entartete Kunst), which opened in Munich on July 19, 1937. Exhibition organizers surrounded the paintings and sculpture with mocking graffiti and quotations from Hitler’s speeches, designed to inflame public opinion against this “decadent” avant-garde art. Ironically, the exhibition attracted five times as many visitors (36,000 on one Sunday alone) as the equally large “Great German Art Exhibition” of Nazi-approved art that opened in Munich at the same time….” Philadelphia Museum of Art website.
Read more about the Entartete Kunst and the banning and censoring of art on this holocaust resource site and also this site.
This painting was banned in China last year. Does it look dangerous? Why?
Read about this work in the Wall Street Journal.
Bacchante and Infant Faun by Macmonnies (c 1895) was prohibited from display and “Banned in Boston.” Look at this work and make some educated guesses as to why it would have been banned. Then, read more about this work , now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/modl/ho_97.19.htm
Graffiti
Check out the Blu Muto film–graffiti from Buenos Aires and Baden
Take a look at the work of Banksy and others. Is Graffiti art? Why/why not? Are there compelling reasons to ban or censor Graffiti?
A judge said of Washington DC graffitist “Borf” : “That’s not artistic expression” … “That is not political expression. That is not grief therapy. That is vandalism.”
Is she right?
“Degenerate Art”? « Banned & Dangerous Art 9:33 am on October 6, 2009 Permalink
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Banned from Constitution Hall « Banned & Dangerous Art 2:46 pm on October 24, 2009 Permalink
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Dangerous Music « Banned & Dangerous Art 10:17 am on November 5, 2009 Permalink
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kevinmccluskey 2:29 pm on November 9, 2009 Permalink
Dangerous Art First Person:
I wanted to share with you all an experience here in the Dangerous Art. The Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of The Laramie Project was protested by the members of the Westboro Baptist Church, and we—the entire UMW community—got to see the protest of and support of dangerous art in reality.
One afternoon, we received a fax copy of a press release, which began: February 15, 2003. News Release: Westboro Baptist Church to picket dyke-infested Mary Washington College, demon-possessed President William Anderson, Jr., sodomite Department of Theatre and Dance (Gregg Stull, Chair), and fag-capitol Washington DC….. It seemed that our production of The Laramie Project was bothersome to them because of its attempts to deal with the death and surrounding issues of Matthew Shepherd. (you can go to their website, which is godhatesfags.com…really)
Even now as I write this post, I have a lump in my throat when I think about what the play was asking us as an audience juxtaposed to the hateful words and ideas in the press release: i.e., 9-11 happened because America is a nation of “fags-and fag pimps” which are both hated by God and thus, His, retribution was 9-11. The humanity of what happened to Mr. Shepherd—being tied to a wooden fence and left to die after being beaten—seemed such an important topic of discussion for art.
But on the other hand, what I loved about this was just exactly the furor that the play caused: we sold out all our performances of the show. So more people saw this show that would otherwise, and came either in protest or support. And the University handled this brilliantly: they sent mass emails to students reminding us all of the value of free-speech and that Universities need to be bastions of free speech, told the students how to conduct a protest without breaking laws, and un-equivocally put their support behind the university and its students. So for the 4 protestors from the Westboro Baptist Church, there were something like 300 from the College and the Community!!
In the end, the protest, as hard as it was for the artists in the production, proved to me that the great value in art, and especially in art that for whatever reason is banned or dangerous, is the power of the artist to touch the human soul. Like it or hate it, this process engaged the entire community in thinking not only about the subject matter of the play but also considering free-speech and art, and therefore, judging the value of art in our society.
Here is a link to one of the protestors being interviewed at another protest of the same play:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mAKgXgyy_8
Kevin
kevinmccluskey 12:10 pm on November 10, 2009 Permalink
Tony Kushner’s FIGHTING ART BULLIES:
Watend to share this: Tony Kushner’s Angels in American is also a favorite of those with a desire to challenge art. Here is part of a letter he wrote to students at Kilgore College in Texas when there was a fairly huge campaign to shut down the production.
p://www.thenation.com/doc/19991129/kushn…
I was teaching about two hours away from this college when this happened…I pass this on because some of the same dialogue that was used to challenge the Laramie Project, found its way into the challenge here.
Kevin
kevinmccluskey 12:11 pm on November 10, 2009 Permalink
Sorry forgot part of the URL:
http://www.thenation.com/doc/19991129/kushner
Censored Mural « Banned & Dangerous Art 9:01 am on November 17, 2009 Permalink
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When is it Art–When is it Unseen and Banned from View? « Banned & Dangerous Art 7:19 pm on December 1, 2009 Permalink
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