Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (May 29, 1996)
Opinion The Clackamas Print Wednesday, May 29,1996^7 Artistic nudity: right or wrong? Joel P. Shempert Staff Writer The word “nudity” conjures up alt types of concepts in the mind of the reader relating to sex and sexuality, to the dismay of many religious and conservative people, and to the wholehearted approval of those more liberal- minded. I intend to demonstrate, how ever, that there is a degree of error in both viewpoints; that artistic nudity is not wrong, but neither is the depiction of nudity always right. I hope to come to a middle ground where Christian individu als like myself can freely express themselves artistically, while still retaining their Christian testimony. Art, simply, is expression. Good art is expression of truth, at least as the artist sees it. Frankie Schaeffer, son of the late Christian writer and philosopher Francis Schaeffer, affirms this in his book, Sham Pearls for Real Swine. A significant point that Schaeffer makes is that if art is truth, it is all- encompassing. Art can depict something beautiful, or something ugly, and if it shows the truth about the subject, it has suc ceeded as art. The simplest level on which this works is through aesthetic truth—depicting the physical world with accuracy and beauty. The artist who paints a nude woman is expressing truth as much as the one who paints a bowl of fruit. Schaeffer points out that the human figure is even es sential to good art. “An artist who does not draw the nude figure cannot learn the traditional, accumulated skills of thousands of years of figurative western art history,” claims Schaeffer. There is a danger, however, of using this concept as an excuse for any and all nudity—or any and all expression, for that matter. Ar tistic merit is not inherent in the subject alone, but is also bound up in its presentation. There is such a thing as pornography, and the presentation of the nude is the key. There are obvious examples, such as depictions of sexually ex plicit behavior, which are as far re moved from a Michelangelo or Rembrandt nude as the east is from the west. There are also more subtle cases which must be examined. This is why individual work must We live in an age which is extremely focused on sex. be examined for pornographic content, and not nudity as a whole. “Of course all nudity...has some sexual content, but then so does all of human life,” explains Schaeffer. “But such portrayals are not selling sexuality for sexuality’s sake, divorced from a loving hu man relationship, as is pornogra phy.” Much of the difference lies in the motives behind the presenta tion. Too often today, nudity is depicted from motives of sexual stimulation or shock value. C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity that, “when people break the rule of propriety.. .if they do so in or der to incite lust in themselves or others, they are offending against chastity. . .when, as often hap pens, they break it defiantly in or der to shock or embarrass others, they are not necessarily being unchaste, but they are being un charitable.” At the same time it is easy for Christians to dismiss all nudity as pornography. This is unfortunate, since nudity possesses a rich and varied symbolism which is impor tant to artistic expression. There are literal types of symbolism, such as the depiction of specific situations, and also human sexu ality portrayed in moral fashion. The point where ambiguity sets in, however, is when one en ters the realm of metaphorical symbolism. Nudity can be used to express purity and innocence, or great shame, or vulnerability and helplessness, or even, in some cases, immorality. Schaeffer’s book classifies and explains the various tradi tional usages of nudity in art. There is: nuditas naturalis, the depiction of nudity as a fact of life; nuditas temporalis, the usage of nudity allegorically to act as a metaphor for misfortune, peni tence and so forth; nuditas virtualis, which embodies purity or sinlessness; and nuditas criminalis, which portrays evil and wickedness. The important criterion when examining these, especially the last case, is how the subject is presented, and is good praised and evil condemned? We live in an age which is ex tremely focused on sex. Sex is glo rified; sex is celebrated; sex is en couraged—all as an end unto it self— rather than as part of a lov ing lifelong relationship. What ever one’s personal views on this issue, one can hardly blame the Christian community for reacting negatively to that which runs con trary to their deepest convictions. It has become difficult to pro mote nudity in an artistic sense because the cultural waters have become so muddied. Where does nudity most often appear in 20th century American culture? The live nude is seen in strip clubs— instances where art is the last thing on the minds of the performers or the audience. In film, nudity ap pears not to advance the plot, or provide some sort of symbolism, but for gratuitous and torrid—and usually illicit—sex. In literature, nudity often appears for graphic description of equally steamy sex scenes. In the fine arts, there are still many who desire honest, aesthetic expression, but there are also many who use their art as a venue for cheap sexuality. It is a popular culture which creates an atmo sphere unfavorable and even hos tile to the Christian individual, and if the church has overreacted, it can be at least partially forgiven. This is why I would like the two polar opposites of our soci ety to come together artistically, and strive toward enrichment rather than retreat into stagnation. Those in secular society would do well to respect the position of fun damentalism rather than pursuing new heights of shock value for its own sake. At the same time, the church must realize that by reject ing art and culture, it is failing in its evangelical mission. Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world, yet they cannot begin to solve the world’s problems if they are not truly in it. Customized computers: the way to go than what my computer can quirements of of eight megabytes of of tual computer will cost, complete tual computer will cost, complete requirements.” Brad Zimmerman quirements eight megabytes Sure, I could just hold off handle. Assistant Feature Editor memory, 30 megabytes of hard with shipping costs. During the fall of 1994,1 de drive space and a two-speed CD- I’ve decided to get a Pentium- buying the newer software and I bought a computer about a year and a half ago, and at that cided to get a Pentium-60. At that ROM drive. My computer barely 133 with a 512 kilobyte cache, 16 wait another year to buy a com megabytes of RAM and a one- puter, but—especially true in the time, it was considered to be pretty time, the Pentium-75 was the best meets those requirements. fast. I assumed that it would last computer you could get; the P-60 So, instead of buying more gigabyte (1000 megabytes) hard computer business-nothing me at least three or four years. Un seemed more than sufficient to memory, a bigger hard drive and a drive. The computer comes stan stands still. If I just decided to fortunately, I now need more handle anything the next few faster CD-ROM drive (and then dard with a four-speed CD-ROM wait a little longer for the prices memory, a bigger hard drive and a years could throw at it. paying someone to install the new drive. In addition, I’ve decided to to drop, I’ll end up waiting for ever- Last week, I decided to pur components), I’ve decided to sim get a 15" monitor with 2 megabytes -new computers are released, and faster CD-ROM drive because their prices start to drop, so I de games and applications simply chase “Jane’s Advanced Tactile ply get a new computer. cided to wait and get the new sys have higher minimum requirements Fighter” which has minimum re Fortunately, buying a com tem and so on. puter is not as bad as most people When buying a new com think. However, the fact that I am puter, make sure that you know buying a new computer kind of what is going into it. Addition bothers me. A year and a half ago, ally, try and talk to friends (and my computer was top of the line. NCW To CPU C»Tf! the salespeople—they usually T hè KJiFT'f-su.pee- Now it barely meets the minimum DWPE.R - UUTOA-PovJt R- know what they are doing), along requirements for a $45 game. PC fcy 12» CÖCJ0M- with reading reviews about the ToMS« OF Nonetheless, I’m going to computer. Of course, if you are have to get a new computer. To buying a customized computer, a make the process, easier, many review won’t mean much, unless computer companies now have you decided to customize your World Wide Web (WWW) sites computer based on the review. that can greatly facilitate the buy In the end, if someone wants ing process. to buy a new computer, they are In particular, both Gateway just going to have to break down and Dell offer WWW sites that and buy it. will let you choose a basic com If at all possible, try and get a puter system, and then let you cus a VRAM (Video RAM). Most tomize it to your own specifica people I’ve talked to have said that “customized” computer which can tions. At the end of the setup might last two years. I.e., be built to your specifications; at “customization,” you have the two years from now, my computer a cost usually less than buying a ability to see how much your vir- will just be meeting the “minimum pre-packaged system. If I just decided to wait a little longer for the prices to drop, Til end up waiting for ever—new computers are released, and their prices start to drop.
