Albert CamusOver the past week, a few blog friends have all related stories and opinions about censorship and art. I read their articles (listed here, here, and here) and commented on a few of them. Some were dealing with the high level issue of it and some had been censored.
I found a quote I wrote in my "idea" notebook I carry around to capture anything that strikes my fancy. I saw this quote by Albert Camus at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art a few months ago. I just reread it today and decided to research Camus and found a few more quotes by him and others as well. I am not an eloquent writer, so I will share what others have said about art and censorship.
"Without freedom, no art; art lives only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others." - Albert Camus
"The aim of art, the aim of a life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man and in the world. It cannot, under any circumstances, be to reduce or suppress that freedom, even temporarily. No great work has ever been based on hatred and contempt. On the contrary, there is not a single true work of art that has not in the end added to the inner freedom of each person who has known and loved it." -Albert Camus
"Sex and creativity are often seen by dictators as subversive activities." - Erica Jong
All I can say is - as long as art stirs our hearts, it will be hated by some who can not understand it.
I found a quote I wrote in my "idea" notebook I carry around to capture anything that strikes my fancy. I saw this quote by Albert Camus at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art a few months ago. I just reread it today and decided to research Camus and found a few more quotes by him and others as well. I am not an eloquent writer, so I will share what others have said about art and censorship.
"Without freedom, no art; art lives only on the restraints it imposes on itself, and dies of all others." - Albert Camus
"The aim of art, the aim of a life can only be to increase the sum of freedom and responsibility to be found in every man and in the world. It cannot, under any circumstances, be to reduce or suppress that freedom, even temporarily. No great work has ever been based on hatred and contempt. On the contrary, there is not a single true work of art that has not in the end added to the inner freedom of each person who has known and loved it." -Albert Camus
"Sex and creativity are often seen by dictators as subversive activities." - Erica Jong
All I can say is - as long as art stirs our hearts, it will be hated by some who can not understand it.
Bravo !!!
ReplyDeleteI think there must be more outrage by all citizens over art censorship. Thanks for the good post. You know, personally, I haven't been able to find any good art that was hateful. I have seen some art that was exploitive, and it stirred me, but still I do not know if even exploitive art should be restricted. There are laws to protect children, and these laws need to be enforced. But adults need to be allowed to be adults.
ReplyDelete"But adults need to be allowed to be adults." I could not say it better myself.
ReplyDelete