THE VITAL NATURE OF ART AND CONTROVERSY

THE “SENSATION” EXHIBIT WHICH CAUSED TORRENTS OF BAD PRESS AND CERTAINLY LIVED UP TO ITS NAME HERE AND ABROAD. THE EXHIBIT WAS BANNED IN NEW YORK CITY BY THEN-MAYOR GIULIANI WHO WAS DISGUSTED BY ANTI-RELIGIOUS (ANTI-CHRISTIAN) CONTENT ON DISPLAY IN SOME WORKS AND ALSO REPULSED BY THE USE OF EXCREMENT (ELEPHANT DUNG WAS THE MEDIA EMPLOYED BY ONE ARTIST WHO HAD PAINTED A VERSION OF THE MADONNA). GIULIANI FAILED TO GRASP THE CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THAT CHOICE, WHICH– TO MY UNDERSTANDING– WAS NEVER INTENDED AS AN ATTACK UPON THE VIRGIN MOTHER, HER ASSUMED CHASTITY OR HOLINESS.

THE CONTROVERSY “SENSATION” ENGENDERED ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC WAS ENORMOUS. TO HAVE A POLITICIAN SILENCE ARTISTIC EXPRESSION COULD SEEM APPROPRIATE, AND YET, ONE MUST WONDER WHAT CREDENTIALS WAS GIULIANI EQUIPPED WITH? WE MUST ASK, FURTHER– WHY SHOULD HE, OR ANY OTHER POLITICO, HAVE THE RIGHT TO ASSUME THE POSITION OF ARBITER AND FINAL DECISION-MAKER CONCERNING WHAT IS OR IS NOT ART; WHAT IS OR IS NOT OBSCENE. IN HIS CASE, GIULIANI DID NOT EVEN HIRE A CONSULTANT WITH A SOLID COMPREHENSION OF ART OR SOCIOLOGY WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EDIFY THE MAYOR ABOUT THE CULTURAL DISPARITIES AND HIS (TOTALLY UNDERSTANDABLE) INABILITY TO SEE THEM.

In Britain, ANGRY MOBS ARRIVED AND FLUNG INK AND RAW EGGS UPON A PAINTING BY MARCUS HARVEY: A PAINTING ENTITLED, “MYRA.” NO AMERICAN WOULD HAVE BEEN INSTIGATED BY THIS PORTRAIT. AN AMERICAN AUDIENCE WHICH MAINLY WAS AND REMAINS IGNORANT AS TO THE IDENTITY OF MYRA HINDLEY MAY HAVE FOUND AN OFF-PUTTING QUALITY IN THE FACE “MYRA” SHOWS THE WORLD. IT MAY HAVE LEFT THE VIEWER FEELING MOROSE AND OVERTLY SOMBER– THE ODD, PINCHED NOSE AND TOO-SLENDER LIPS, THE MESS OF THICK WHITE, PEROXIDE-DAMAGED HAIR– STYLED LOOSELY, ITS BANGS LANDING SOMEWHAT SOFTLY JUST ABOVE A PAIR OF DIABOLICALLY PIERCING, ANTHRACITE EYES, TWO COAL-LIKE BEADS WHICH MAY BE DESCRIBED AS SULLEN, UNFORGIVING, CALLOUS, SOULLESS, PENETRATING AND CERTAINLY, HARSH. THIS WAS A FACE ONE COULD EASILY ASSOCIATE WITH ADVANCED AGE OR UNPLEASANT LIVING CONDITIONS. YET, “MYRA” IS A PORTRAIT OF A 23-YEAR OLD YOUNG WOMAN. WHY WERE THE PROTESTS IN BRITAIN FOCUSED ON HARVEY’S WORK AND NOT NEARLY AS FOCUSED ON THE SHOCKING PRODUCTIONS OF DAMIEN HIRST, WHOSE USE OF ANIMAL REMAINS DID NOT STIR UP QUITE AS MUCH AN OUTRAGE AS ONE MIGHT IMAGINE?

THE REACTION SHOWN BY SOME WAS ABSOLUTELY EXTREME AND, BY NATURE, CRIMINAL. VANDALISM IS A CRIME. TO ENSURE THAT “MYRA” REMAINED AMONGST THE PAINTINGS AND CONCEPTUAL PIECES IN THE INSTALLATION, IT WAS REQUISITE THAT A PROTECTIVE STRUCTURE BE BUILT WHICH WOULD HOUSE THE LARGE PORTRAIT. THIS WAS MADE OF PERSPEX AND THEREFORE, IT PROTECTED THE WORK OF ART WHILE NOT CAUSING ITS VIEW ANY OBSTRUCTION.

WHY THE VIOLENT OPPOSITION? FOR STARTERS, MYRA HINDLEY, WHO DIED IN NOVEMBER, 2002 IS STILL CONSIDERED BY MANY AS THE MOST HATED WOMAN IN MODERN BRITISH HISTORY. NOTHING ABOUT HER FORMATIVE YEARS INDICATES IN ANY WAY THAT HER FATE IS THAT OF THE UTTERLY DESPISED, NOR THAT SHE WOULD SPEND 35 YEARS BEHIND BARS. AS A GIRL, SHE WAS SENSITIVE AND WAS CONSIDERED TO BE ONE OF MANCHESTER’S MOST RELIABLE BABY-SITTERS.
MYRA HINDLEY WAS IN DEMAND AS A BABY-SITTER. THE HIDEOUS IRONY IS THAT SHE WOULD BECOME AS HATED AND DEMONIZED AS SHE WAS FOR PLAYING MORE THAN A SMALL ROLE IN THE ABDUCTION, SADISTIC SEXUAL TORTURE INCLUDING RAPE, BRUTE PHYSICAL TORTURE AND ULTIMATE MURDER OF CHILDREN. THOUGH NOT LIKELY THAT HINDLEY WOULD EVER HAVE EVEN DREAMED UP SUCH MONSTROUS THOUGHTS PRIOR TO MEETING IAN BRADY, SHE DID FAR MORE THAN SIMPLY FANTASIZE ABOUT KILLING. SHE TOOK AN ACTIVE ROLE IN THE PLOTTING AND EXECUTION OF PARTICULARLY HORRIFIC MURDERS.

BRADY WAS ABOMINABLE AND HAD A PROFOUND INFLUENCE OVER HINDLEY, TO WHOM SHE LOST HER VIRGINITY AFTER HE HAD TAKEN HER ON THER FIRST DATE—A VERY TELLING DATE. IAN BRADY, OBSESSED WITH NAZI PROPAGANDA AND PHILOSOPHY, TOOK MYRA TO SEE JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG.

HE SOON MOVED INTO HER FLAT AND BEGAN TO TEACH HER GERMAN AND ASSIGNED HER BOOKS ON SEXUAL SADISM TO READ AS HOMEWORK. SHE DEVOURED De SADE. SHE CHANGED HER APPEARANCE MARKEDLY, MAKING HER HAIR PEROXIDE-BLOND AND DRESSING IN AN OVERTLY SEXUAL, “GERMANIC” STYLE.

SHE WAS OBSESSED WITH BRADY AND WOULD DO ANYTHING TO PLEASE HIM. HIS DESIRE TO RAPE AND MURDER CHILDREN SEEMS NOT TO HAVE CAUSED HER ANY DISTRESS. INSTEAD, SHE DEDICATED HER TIME TO ASSISTING IAN WITH THE FIRST FOUR MURDERS. SHE LURED A 10-YEAR-OLD GIRL, TWO 12-YEAR-OLD BOYS, AND A 16 YEAR-OLD FEMALE OFF TO THE SCENES OF THEIR INCREDIBLY PAINFUL MURDERS. IAN WAS SAVAGE BUT MYRA WAS JUST AS WICKED. SHE, TOO, PARTICIPATED IN BOTH THE MOLESTATION AND TORTURE OF THE VICTIMS. MYRA RECORDED THE GHASTLY CRIES OF 10-YEAR-OLD LESLIE ANN DOWNEY ON A REEL-TO-REEL. MYRA PHOTOGRAPHED THE JUVENILE VICTIMS IN A PORNOGRAPHIC MANNER.

MYRA AND IAN JOINTLY DUMPED THE BODIES AT SADDLEWORTH MOOR, AND RETURNED FREQUENTLY TO PICNIC ON THE SHALLOW GRAVES, EATING THEIR LUNCHES ABOVE THE WASTED BODIES OF CHILDREN WHO WOULD NEVER REACH ADULTHOOD BECAUSE OF THE MALICIOUSNESS OF THIS GHOULISH PAIR—ALL THE WHILE GRINNING AND SNAPPING PHOTOGRAPHS.

HER ACTS WERE SHOCKING, AND AT THE TIME OF THE MOORS MURDERS ARRESTS, THEY WERE WITHOUT PRECEDENT IN THE UNITED KINGDOM. WHILE “JACK THE RIPPER” TERRORIZED VICTORIAN WHITECHAPEL SEVENTY-ODD YEARS BEFORE THE GRUESOME PAIR STARTED SNATCHING THEIR VICTIMS, HE DID NOT HARM CHILDREN. HE WAS UTTERLY EVIL, HACKING HIS LAST VICTIM’S FACE UP SO BADLY THAT WAS UNRECOGNIZABLE.

THE RECORDINGS MADE BY HINDLEY WERE DAMNING. EVEN THE MOST HARDENED COPS, JOURNALISTS AND SOLICITORS EXCUSED THEMSELVES FROM THE COURT ROOM TO WEEP IN PRIVATE OR VOMIT WHILE THE REEL-TO-REEL OF LESLIE ANN DOWNEY’S VOICE WAS PLAYED. SHE WAS CRYING AND PLEADING WITH HER “MUMMY” AND “DADDY.” MYRA IS CREDITED WITH ADDING THAT NEFARIOUS TOUCH– MAKING THE VICTIMS CALL SHE AND IAN “MUMMY” AND “DADDY.”

THE BRITISH OUTRAGE IS THUS, NEATLY EXPLAINED. TO EXPOUND UPON IT BY POINTING TO MYRA AS THE PERFECT, UNDENIABLE EXAMPLE OF AN “ANTI-MOTHER” IS EASILY POSITED AND DOES NOT REQUIRE A STRETCH OF THOUGHT. HER ACTIONS WERE DELIBERATE AND WERE THE POLAR OPPOSITE OF THE ACTIONS FOR WHICH SOCIETY GENERALLY LAUDS WOMEN– SUCH AS PATIENCE WITH CHILDREN AND A PREDILECTION TOWARDS ACTIVELY PROTECTING AND NURTURING CHILDREN.

HER CASE MARKED AN END OF INNOCENCE, ILLUMINATING THAT EGREGIOUS RIPS HAD BEEN TORN IN THE FABRIC CRAFTED AT SOCIETY’S LOOM. ALSO, THAT THESE TEARS WERE LIKELY TO WIDEN. IN SOME RESPECTS SHE WAS WORSE THAN BRADY WHO WAS NOT ONLY A BYPRODUCT OF A BORSTAL (TERM DESCRIBES NOW DEFUNCT FACILITIES FOR JUVENILE OFFENDERS IN BRITAIN) HE HAD ENDURED A BLEAK CHILDHOOD FULL OF WANT IN THE MOST IMPOVERISHED SLUM OF GLASGOW. IAN WAS LIKELY A BORN SOCIOPATH. BUT MYRA, WHO HAD LOVED CHILDREN, SIMPLY CHANGED AND BECAME A CHILD SERIAL KILLER BECAUSE SHE WAS INSTRUCTED TO DO SO.

THE CASUAL LACK OF REMORSE CARRIED BY HINDLEY IS CHILLING. SHE PERPETUALLY HOUNDED THE LEGAL SYSTEM MAKING BIDS FOR EARLY RELEASE. HER THOUGHTS REVOLVED SOLELY AROUND HER OBJECTIVES, NOT ON WHAT SHE HAD DONE. SHE FORGED FRIENDSHIPS WITH INFLUENCIAL, WEALTHY MEN SUCH AS DAVID ASTOR AND LORD LONGFORD, WHO BOTH WERE SUPPORTERS OF HINDLEY’S PAROLE.

MYRA HINDLEY WAS NOT IDLE DURING HER INCARCERATION, SHE STUDIED AND MASTERED SEVERAL LANGUAGES– AND SHE ALSO EARNED HER B.A. IN HUMANITIES THROUGH THE “OPEN UNIVERSITY” OPERATED WITHIN U.K. CORRECTIONAL INSTITUTES. SHE CLAIMED TO HAVE ENDURED A SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND SPENT HOURS IN PRAYER AND SPEAKING WITH HER PRIEST–

BUT SHE DID ALL OF THESE THINGS WHILE PLANNING AN ESCAPE WITH A LESBIAN GUARD WITH WHOM SHE HAD ENTERED A TORRID LOVE AFFAIR. THE GUARD DID 7 YEARS TIME FOR THE INDISCRETION AND LATER STATED THAT IT WAS PLANNED THAT ONCE THE COUPLE HAD BROKEN OUT (THE GUARD MANAGED TO HAVE A COPY OF THE MASTER KEY PRODUCED) THAT THEY WOULD OBTAIN FALSE ID’S, INCLUDING PASSPORTS AND FLY TO GUYANA OR SOME SUCH PLACE, AND INQUIRE ABOUT WORK AS “MISSIONARIES.”
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MYRA HINDLEY AND HER SUPPORTERS BROUGHT LAWSUITS CHALLENGING THE PAROLE BOARD’S REFUSAL TO FREE THE IGNOMINIOUS KILLER. AND WHILE SHE HAD ASSUMED A MATRONLY APPEARANCE AND PLAYED THE PART OF A CONTRITE SINNER WRACKED BY REMORSE, SHE WAS NOT WELL-LIKED BY OTHER INMATES AND IN THE LATE 1970′S A VICIOUS MOB OF WOMEN ATTACKED HER, CUT TING UP HER FACE WITH A SHIV SO BADLY A TEAM OF SURGEONS WAS REQUIRED TO RE-ASSEMBLE HER INFAMOUS VISAGE. SHE WAS NECESSARILY TRANSFERRED SEVERAL TIMES: FROM HOLLOWAY PRISON TO COOKHAM WOOD TO HIGHPOINT PRISON, WHERE SHE DIED.

AT HER FUNERAL, WHICH HER FAMILY AVOIDED, AN UNIDENTIFIED INDIVIDUAL LEFT A SIGN AT THE MORTUARY WHICH READ: “BURN IN HELL.”

IF HUMAN REACTIONS TO WORKS OF ART CAN FIND THEIR EXPRESSION IN ACTS OF UNCHAINED AND ENTHUSIASTIC RAGE, THEN ART WIELDS A POWER WHICH NOBODY FULLY FATHOMS. CONSIDER THE INK AND EGGS LOBBED AT MARCUS HARVEY’S PORTRAIT. ONE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THESE OBJECTS WERE BEING TOSSED AT A LIVE TARGET. BUT, IN TRUTH NOBODY THREW INK ON HINDLEY; IT WAS TOSSED ON HER PORTRAIT– THOUGH THE VANDALISM IS AN EERIE, EASY METAPHOR FOR THE FACIALLY DISFIGURING ATTACK SHE HAD SUFFERED IN PRISON.

ART, I REALIZE TOUCHES HUMANKIND ON EVERY POSSIBLE LEVEL. IT REACHES US EMOTIONALLY, VISCERALLY, INTELLECTUALLY AND EVEN SPIRITUALLY. YES, ART HAS AN IMPACT UPON THE SPIRITUAL LIVES OF MEN WHICH CANNOT BE READILY– OR AT ALL EASILY– DISCOUNTED. IF THIS WERE NOT THE CASE, WHY WOULD THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HAVE COMMISSIONED SOME OF THE MOST TRANSCENDENT AND INSPIRATIONAL WORKS FROM THE HANDS OF ARTISTS WHICH HISTORY HAS CANONIZED? ENTERING EVEN A MODEST CHAPEL, THE VISITOR WILL LIKELY BE CONFRONTED WITH SOMETHING RICHLY DESIGNED– A SCULPTED CRUCIFIXION, A BIBLICAL SCENE BOLDLY INTERPRETED IN A VIVID PALETTE AND STAINED UPON GLASS, THEN MADE LUMINESCENT BY AN INTENSE, BURNING AFTERNOON SKY.

WHEN I WAS TEN YEARS OLD I ENVIED CATHOLIC CHILDREN BECAUSE THEY HAD SUCH ELABORATE CHURCHES WHEREAS, I WAS DRAGGED LIKE A RAG DOLL TO AUSTERE PROTESTANT CHURCHES. OR TO SPIRITUALIST MEETING-PLACES WHICH WERE JUST AS UNIMPRESSIVE.

AGAIN, THE THEME RE-ASSERTS ITSELF. THE SPARTAN INTERIORS AND WHITE FACADES MY PURITAN ANCESTORS HAD INCORPORATED INTO THE DESIGNS OF THEIR PLACES OF WORSHIP SUMMARILY CONNOTE THE IDEALS THEY UPHELD AND TRIED TO SPREAD: THAT CLEANLINESS WAS NEXT TO GODLINESS, THAT THRIFT WAS A DIVINELY ASSIGNED TRAIT, THAT CATHOLICS WERE ENGAGING IN A WICKEDNESS BY WASTING FUNDS ON BUILDING ELABORATE HOUSES OF WORSHIP.

SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT DESTINATIONS FOR THE DISCIPLE OF ART ARE LOCATED WITHIN ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCHES. ONE ONLY NEED THINK OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL.

ART AS A MAJOR THEME OF LIFE– ONE WHICH WE HEAR IN THE CONTENT OF CONVERSATION OR APPRECIATE FAR MORE SUBTLY AS WE WALK NOT THROUGH A MUSEUM, BUT DOWNTOWN. PAYING ATTENTION TO THE DETAILS PLACED ON THE OLD, BRICK BUILDINGS. LOOK CLOSELY, EVEN THE TENEMENTS DISPLAY VISIBLE ARCHITECTURAL FLOURISHES: ELEGANT PEDIMENTS ABOVE CRUMBLING DOORWAYS, AND SUCH. IT IS A RARE THING, NOWADAYS, TO GET TOGETHER WITH A FRIEND AND VISIT A MUSEUM. NOT RARE FOR ALL, BUT RARE FOR MOST. HOWEVER, WE INADVERTENTLY DISCUSS ART AND TO ADD TO THE ACCIDENTAL NATURE OF THE SUBJECT ENTERING CONVERSATION– WE DO SO WITHOUT CONSCIOUSLY VIEWING ART.

SINCE MAN IS SO VISUAL A BEING, HE CONSTANTLY SURVEYS HIS ENVIRONS. AS WELL, SINCE MAN IS SO VERBAL A BEING, HE IS COMPELLED TO CHATTER ABOUT WHAT HIS EYES– WHILE SCANNING ABOUT– HAVE DETECTED.

IS THERE SOMETHING UGLY FOR HIM TO POINT OUT AND REMARK UPON? OR, HAS SOMETHING LOVELY CAUGHT HIS EYE AND HE NEED BRING THIS SCRAP OF BEAUTY TO THE FOREFRONT OF CONVERSATION AND THUS, CONSCIOUSNESS BECAUSE HE IS IN THE COMPANY OF A MISERABLE GROUP, OR WITH A WOMAN HE DESPERATELY DESIRES TO IMPRESS WITH A VISUALLY APPEALING IMAGE IN HOPES THAT SHE WILL ASSOCIATE SUCH AN EASILY ACQUIRED SENSE OF CONTENTMENT WITH HE– HER MEMORY OF HIM FOREVER INTERTWINED WITH THE DAZZLING, MIDNIGHT SKY, SMEARED BY COUNTLESS AND UNUSUALLY BRIGHT STARS ON A CLEAR NIGHT SOMEWHERE OUTSIDE DENVER?

MY MOTHER ONCE TOLD ME THAT MY FATHER WON HER HEART, OR AT LEAST HER ATTENTION, BY TELLING HER THAT SHE HAD ” THE FACE OF A BOTTICELLI ANGEL.”

DECISIONS ARE INFLUENCED BY ART ON A DAILY BASIS; SIMPLY BECAUSE THERE IS AN EVIDENT DEMISE IN THE NATIONAL APPRECIATION FOR ARTISTRY AND CLEVER SKILL… DO NOT THINK FOR AN INSTANT THAT IT HAS VANISHED AND THAT WE AREN’T BEING PRODDED, GOADED AND TENDED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE AN INTRINSIC UNDERSTANDING OF THE POWER INHERENT IN ART IS FAR FROM SUPERFICIAL. THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT THESE TYPES ARE MAINLY EMPLOYED IN ADVERTISING. THERE IS NOTHING ESSENTIALLY TERRIBLE IN THAT. WHAT IS TERRIBLE IS THAT A FAMOUS PORTRAIT OF OUR NEWLY ELECTED PRESIDENT– AN IMAGE WITH WHICH WE ARE ALL FAMILIAR, WHICH I THINK IS CALLED “HOPE”– HAS BROUGHT ATTENTION TO THE ARTIST BUT I AM UNABLE TO RECALL OR WRITE HIS NAME. THAT IMAGE IS, IN MY OPINION, ONE WHICH WILL BE AS HISTORICALLY IMPORTANT AS THE GILBERT STUART PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON OR OF THE HAUNTING PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN DURING THE AMERICAN DEPRESSION BY DOROTHEA LANGE WHICH MADE AN UNKNOWN, IMPOVERISHED WOMAN AN IMMORTAL ICON OF STRENGTH. NAMELESS, BUT FAMOUS, SHE IS REFERRED TO AS “THE DUST BOWL MADONNA.”

WE ARE NOT FOCUSED ON ART IN ANY DIRECT MANNER. EVERYTHING IS PERIPHERAL AND THIS IS THE WAY LITERATURE AND THE VISUAL ARTS ENTER OUR LIVES, EVER INCREASINGLY– FROM THE SIDE. RECALLING THE DISCREPANCY BETWEEN AMERICAN AND GERMAN ART OF ROUGHLY THE SAME ERA, THE IDEA OF POWER REEMERGES WITH GREAT FORCE. WE UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF ART– OR THE POWER OF ART– WHEN WE REMEMBER THE PROFOUND EFFECT NAZI PROPAGANDA EXERTED. ALONGSIDE RADIO BROADCASTS AND HITLERS’ DELIRIUM-CAUSING PUBLIC SPEAKING, PROPAGANDIST ART AIDED IN THE CREATION OF THE NAZI GERMAN ZEITGEIST.

WHO IS THE LAST FAMOUS AMERICAN POET YOU CAN NAME? TRUE,” FAMOUS POET” IS AN OXYMORON NOWADAYS, BUT IT WAS NOT ALWAYS LIKE THIS. THINK ABOUT IT. I ASSUME THAT MOST PEOPLE WOULD SAY ROBERT FROST; MAYBE A HANDFUL WOULD SAY EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY, OTHERS WILL POINT TO THE EXAMPLE OF PLATH, SOME TO ANNE SEXTON.

FROST IS THE BEST ANSWER, HE DID HAVE TRUE FAME, AND HIS NAME STILL A HOUSEHOLD WORD. MILLAY MAY BE THE NEXT BEST ANSWER. SHE HAD AN ENORMOUS FAME (ONE TO WHICH A MODERN POET WOULD NOT DARE TO ASPIRE) BUT HER FAME PROCEEDED THAT OF FROST, AND HER LEGACY IS TWISTED. MANY THINK SHE WAS SOME UPTIGHT PRUDE, WHEN HER BIOGRAPHY CLEARLY PROVES SHE WAS SEXUALLY RAPACIOUS AND BISEXUAL IN AN ERA WHEN THE REMAINING VICTORIAN MORALS WOULD HAVE CONDEMNED THAT BEHAVIOR AS A GRAVE SIN. MILLAY WAS ADDICTED TO A PLETHORA OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL—TRAGIC ADDICTIONS INCONGRUOUS WITH THE IDENTITY OF A “PRUDE.”

SYLVIA PLATH GAINED THE MAJORITY OF HER FAME AFTER TAKING HER OWN LIFE AT THE DAWN OF THE 1960′S… AND WHILE ANNE SEXTON ALSO TOOK HER OWN LIFE IN 1974 SHE HAD ALREADY WON A PECULIAR FAME. SEXTON WAS A GLAMOROUS WASP AND FORMER MODEL WHOSE STATUESQUE GOOD LOOKS, INTRIGUING PHYSIOGNOMY AND SEXUALITY MADE HER APPEAL RATHER BROAD. PERSONALLY, I WOULD NAME HER AS THE LAST OF THE FAMOUS POETS, FOR SHE WAS A SERIOUS WRITER, DISCIPLINED AND INTENT ON PERFECTION. SHE WAS ALSO ABLE TO SELL OUT VENUES AND PEOPLE BOUGHT HER BOOKS.HER BOLD ADMISSION OF MENTAL ILLNESS CAUSED PUBLIC INTEREST IN SEXTON TO EXPLODE. BUT SHE COULD TRULY MOVE A READER WITH A PIECE WRITTEN IN FORM. CONSIDER “HER KIND” AND ITS SCHEME– WHICH DOES NOT HAMPER THE ADROIT COMMINGLING OF THE SUB TEXTUAL SENTIMENTS.

YET, SEXTON’S CASE, ONE OF THE FINEST AMERICAN WOMEN OF LETTERS WAS EVENTUALLY SO FRACTURED AND BRUISED BY MENTAL ILLNESS AND CHRONIC ALCOHOLISM THAT SHE, LIKE SYLVIA PLATH, CAPITULATED TO A TERRIBLE WHIM. (SUICIDE WAS A MAJOR LIFE THEME FOR SEXTON) ON A PLACID AFTERNOON, SHE CLIMBED INTO HER VEHICLE AND TURNED THE MOTOR, WAITING FOR DEATH AS CARBON MONOXIDE FLOODED THE CAR’S INTERIOR.

THERE ARE MANY ARTISTS WHO ARE NOT ILL, ADDICTED OR SUICIDAL. BUT, ART IS A HUMAN PRODUCTION AND WILL ADDRESS HUMAN EMOTIONS AND HUMAN PROBLEMS. SOME ART MUST GIVE THE GENERAL POPULATION AN IDEA OF WHAT MADNESS IS– AND WERE IT NOT FOR THE LEVEL OF GENIUS IN PEOPLE SUCH AS PLATH OR HEMINGWAY, ONE COULD ASSUME THEY WOULD HAVE HAD NOTHING TO OCCUPY THEMSELVES WITH AND THEREFORE MAY HAVE COMMITTED SUICIDE MUCH EARLIER. THE WORLD WOULD NOT MISS THE CONTRIBUTIONS THEY HAD MADE– THEY WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN CREATED. IMAGINE THE ROBBERY THAT WOULD REPRESENT. UGLINESS AND EMOTIONAL TURMOIL MUST BE ILLUSTRATED, NOT BURIED, LOCKED AWAY OR CENSURED.

ART AND THE NOTION OF CENSURE DO NOT BELONG TOGETHER. THERE IS NO END TO ART. IT CAN BE FOUND AND APPRECIATED IN UNLIKELY PLACES. HOWEVER, IF A GALLERY OR A MUSEUM WITH A BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND AN ACTING CURATOR DECIDES TO ALLOW AN INSTALLATION OF AN EXHIBITION WHICH THEY ALREADY UNDERSTAND MAY, AT VERY LEAST, CAUSE CONTROVERSY, THE INSTITUTION IS OPERATING WITH ITS AUTONOMY AND AUTHORITY INTACT. THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR GREEN-LIGHTING THE SHOWING OF THE “SENSATION” EXHIBITION IN NYC WERE, I ASSUME WITH CONFIDENCE, FAR BETTER EDUCATED IN TERMS OF ART AND FAR BETTER SUITED TO JUDGE IT AS WORTHY OR NOT. THEY FELT IT WAS WORTH SHOWING AND, WHILE THE NAME “SENSATION” MAY CONVEY THAT THERE EXISTED A PURPOSEFUL DESIRE TO IRRITATE THE SENSIBILITIES OR SHOCK THE RELIGIOUS FEELINGS OF THAT CITY’S MAYOR; THIS IS UNLIKELY IN THE EXTREME.

BRITISH REACTIONS WERE VOCAL AND LOUD OR PHYSICAL. THE REACTION IN THE UNITED STATES WAS FOR A POLITICIAN TO TOSS ABOUT WORDS WHICH REMINDED ONE OF “MORALITY,” SUCH AS “OBSCENE,” AND TO THEN DISCONTINUE FUNDING. I THINK I FAVOR THE BRITISH REACTION. I SHOULD CLARIFY THAT: I DO NOT FAVOR THE VANDALISM AND I AM QUITE ANNOYED WITH THE REFUSAL OF THE BRITISH PUBLIC TO STOP, REALIZE THAT THE PORTRAIT WAS NOT INTENDED AS A CELEBRATION OF MYRA HINDLEY OR HER SICKENING CRIMES. WHAT I DO FAVOR IS THAT (ASIDE FROM THE VANDALISM) PEOPLE IN ENGLAND PROTESTED AND DEMONSTRATED.THEY SHOWED THEIR DISSATISFACTION AND THEY SHOWED THEIR DISAPPROVAL. MOST IMPORTANTLY, ENGLISH AUTHORITIES NEVER BECAME PRESUMPTUOUS ENOUGH TO STEP INTO THE PICTURE IN ORDER TO TELL THE CITIZENS WHAT ART WAS AND WHETHER OR NOT THEIR RIGHT TO VIEW IT WAS THEIR OWN.

PERHAPS SOME OF THE WORKS WERE DISGUSTING. IN FACT, I FOUND CERTAIN PIECES TO BE UPSETTING. YET, I DO NOT THINK IT SHOULD BE THE PROVINCE OF POLITICIANS TO TELL ME WHETHER OR NOT I CAN VIEW AN ART SHOW WHICH MAY CAUSE MY NERVES SOME DEGREE OF UPSET. THE JUSTIFICATION THAT SINCE THE MONIES USED TO FINANCE THE NYC SHOW WERE PUBLIC– THEREFORE COLLECTED FROM TAXPAYERS– DOES NOT WORK FOR ME. I AM UNSURE WHY IT WOULD SATISFY ANYBODY. TAXPAYERS HAVE SO LITTLE TO SAY WHEN IT COMES TO THE MANNER IN WHICH THEIR MONEY IS SPENT THAT THEY ARE UTTER MUTES; FOR
ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES.WARFARE ALSO CAUSES CONTROVERSY, AND ALSO CAUSES DEATHS, MULTIPLE DEATHS.

YET, OFF GO THE MONIES TO ENSURE THE NATION REMAIN EMBROILED IN PROBLEMS WHICH ARE AS OLD AS CIVILIZATION AND WHICH CAN NOT POSSIBLY BENEFIT FROM THE MEDDLING OF ANY WEALTHY WESTERN NATION. MONEY IS TOO ROUTINELY SPENT WASTEFULLY. FUNDING FOR THE ARTS IS SCANT, AND TO USE “SENSATION” AS A REASON TO FUNNEL TAX DOLLARS IN ANOTHER DIRECTION IS HAREBRAINED. CHILDREN NEED ART AND NEED TO CULTIVATE AN UNDERSTANDING AND RELATIONSHIP THEREOF. I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN, ART TOUCHES MANKIND ON THE VISCERAL, EMOTIONAL, INTELLECTUAL AND SPIRITUAL LEVELS. THAT IS AMAZING, IT IS ALSO FACT. NOT EVEN AN ATHEIST CAN DENY THAT THERE IS A SPIRITUAL LEVEL OR COMPONENT IN MANKIND. HE MAY ATTRIBUTE THE OVERWHELMING SENSATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SPIRITUAL TO A BIO-CHEMICAL RESPONSE. HOWEVER, THE FACT REMAINS THAT SUCH EXPERIENCES ARE TRANSCENDENT, BLISSFUL AND OFTEN LIFE-ALTERING IN THE VERY BEST OF WAYS. ART CAN CAUSE THIS.

WITHOUT THE CHANCE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS, ARGUABLY THE MOST POWERFUL AND PERVASIVE CREATION OUR RACE IS CAPABLE OF CREATING– WHAT CHANCE DOES A CHILD HAVE AS HE ENTERS ADULTHOOD? POLITICIANS SHOULD NOT BE INVOLVED IN ATTEMPTING TO DEFINE OR CENSURE ART. GRAPHIC SEXUAL IMAGERY MAY BE CATEGORIZED AS SUCH AND RULES CONCERNING AGE MAY BE UPHELD, I SEE NO HARM THERE. SHUTTING DOWN MUSEUMS, EXHIBITIONS AND REMOVING FUNDS NECESSARY FOR MUSEUMS TO OPERATE IS A LOWDOWN MISDEED EXECUTED BY PEOPLE WHO LACK EVEN A MODICUM OF THE RAMIFICATIONS SUCH ACTIONS SHALL UNLEASH.