Rudd thinks Children should be neither seen nor heard

here is a bried summary: 06/06 Bill Henson’s Nudes are officially not Porn 03/06 From the mouths of Babes – Bill Henson from the Children’s perspective 30/05 friday nude quotes 29/05 Just because it’s a Nude doesn’t mean it’s Porn 28/05 Community Support for Bill Henson’s Nudes 27/05 Sexualization of Minors in Art 26/05 Bill Henson’s Artworks are Innocent 01/05 Media Furor over Teen Nude I actually feel it’s a badly timed stunt that has probably hurt the cause rather than helped it…. Part of my reasoning in this regard has to do with the fact that Robert Nelson used to be very frank about his dislike of Henson’s works, to now turn around and defend them appears to me as if he has a different agenda…. I do think that Rudd should keep his mouth shut on topics he clearly doesn’t understand, and I certainly think he should apologize to a young girl who has done no harm other than to love being photographed and to stand up for her beliefs .

Just because it’s a Nude doesn’t mean it’s Porn

Picture by the Daily Telegraph And just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not art. the key debate in the Bill Henson controversy is whether these images are pornographic…. there are some strange, strange people out there, but that I don’t think that these pieces are sexual in any way…. There are those out there who are insisting that because it’s a nude, it’s sexual and because it’s sexual, it’s pornographic and therefore illegal.

Sexualization of Minors in Art

[From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I have been thinking further about the issue of sexualization of teens in art. I think if the case against Bill Henson were to go through we will start to see extreme limitations in the freedom of expression and artistic freedom…. [From Art, not porn – Opinion – theage.com.au ] I agree with this, by trying to anticipate what might turn a pedophile on we may be stepping into their shoes and thereby, not only destroying our own view of art, but possibly ruining the experience for others…. we can stop trying to predict them, stop trying to anticipate what they might find titillating and risk damaging freedom of art and expression, the reputations of renowned artists and focus instead on making sure our children are safe and educated.

Church and Sports vs Art – Which is higher risk?

Bill Henson is in the news again, this time for his controversial thoughts on the risks associated with Arts, Sports and the Church. In a recent interview with the Australian, Henson stated that when searching for high risk areas to children that “The last place you would start with would be the arts.” and that…

2011 in review

2011 was a massive mix of highs and lows for me. I don’t want to dwell on the lows, 2012 is about moving forward and building on my successes of the past year. I hope, wherever you are, that you will take a moment to farewell the bad points of 2011 and happily remember the…

Child pornography and art are different things, Hetty

One of the exonerated Nude Teen Pictures from 2008 by Bill Henson. Picture by the Daily Telegraph Bravehearts executive director Hetty Johnston has written to the Baillieu Government asking it to crack down on images such as those created by controversial artist Bill Henson. But artists say they should not be censored and current guidelines…

You can’t force artists to classify their art

There is talk in Australia, once again, of limiting artists rights. I am likely to offend people with these statements and I don’t care. Ratings classifications don’t belong in the arts. Frankly they barely belong in movies. Most people fail to notice them with regards to tv and movies and still they complain. Bill Henson…