1. Controversy, Censorship & Visualization Video clip of curatorial discussion of exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference & Desire in American Portraiture (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution) & link to webpages (main exhibition site) Video clip of curatorial discussion of exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference & Desire in American Portraiture (National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution) & link to webpages (main exhibition site) Video clip linksite Video clip linksite Link to panel discussion Link to panel discussion Link

2. Iconoclasm & Iconoclash Readings: Latour “Iconoclash” Mitchell, “Offending Images”

3. Public Outrage

4. Vandalism & Iconoclasm Vandals as ignorant, silly, senseless, stupid Vandals as ignorant, silly, senseless, stupid Goya No sabe lo que hace

5. Iconoclasm vs. Vandalism? deliberate destruction of images rooted in religious, political, cultural beliefs or groups etc. vs. Ignorant behaviour. Which is it?deliberate destruction of images rooted in religious, political, cultural beliefs or groups etc. vs. Ignorant behaviour. Which is it? Example: Destruction of 3rd c. A.D. Buddhas by Taleban in Afghanistan completed March 12, 2002-- Example: Destruction of 3rd c. A.D. Buddhas by Taleban in Afghanistan completed March 12, 2002--Destruction of 3rd c. A.D. Buddhas by Taleban in Afghanistan Destruction of 3rd c. A.D. Buddhas by Taleban in Afghanistan

6. Iconoclasm? Destruction of images linked to “rational” acts, meaning or connections of images to something- - but how? Destruction of images linked to “rational” acts, meaning or connections of images to something- - but how? Ofili Virgin Mary

7. Why are some images kept & others destroyed? Personal (family) Networks & Values Personal (family) Networks & Values Community-based criteria Community-based criteria Other factors (sometimes concurrent) Other factors (sometimes concurrent) –Scholarly –Political –Economic –Moral & ethical –Class-based (elite, popular) agendas etc…. Variations in meaning over time Variations in meaning over time

8. Inclusion --Exclusion & the democratization of image censorship http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhGx4Rh0Qo8 “Headbangers”--Heavy metal fans Mid-Summer Night Swing Dancing at the Lincoln Center, NYC

9. Identity issues & the meaning of images Inclusion/cohesion Inclusion/cohesion –Visual images as expression of identity, difference (distinction) Exclusion Exclusion –Discriminatory Dimensions –Censorship and/or Democratization

10. Mitchell--Why do some images offend? False Assumptions: False Assumptions: –Images transparently linked to what it represents (doing something to image, does something to what it represents) –Images “feels” what is done to it

11. Examples from Mitchell Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc Richard Serra’s Tilted Arc

12. Maya Lin’s Vietnam Veteran’s War Memorial

13. Lin

14. Mapplethorpe

15. Michelangelo David

16. Swastika

17. Confederate Flage

18. Jasper Johns Flag

19. Marcus Harvey Myra

20. Damian Hirst Damian Hirst

21. Poussin Adoration of the Golden Calf

22. Serrano Piss Christ

23. Offili Outrage over Virgin Mary? Outrage over Virgin Mary? Outrage about symbolic desecration Outrage about symbolic desecration

24. Latour: Why do images inspire hatred? ways of understanding iconoclasts ways of understanding iconoclasts –Inner goals –Roles ascribed to images –Effects of destruction on others –How reactions of those assocciated with images are interpreted by iconoclasts –Effects on the destroyer’s own feelings

25. Fuseli: Artist weeping in despair …. diverse meanings of the disappearance & rejection of artworks diverse meanings of the disappearance & rejection of artworks Vandalism vs. Iconoclasm Vandalism vs. Iconoclasm Vandalists: ignorant, senselessVandalists: ignorant, senseless Iconoclasts: deliberate opposition, “rationale” grounded in system of valuesIconoclasts: deliberate opposition, “rationale” grounded in system of values

26. Censorship as an outcome of democratization artists’ & minority publics’ rights to artists’ & minority publics’ rights to –“self-expression” or –freedom of speech (1st Amendment in US) –But systematic suppression VS. public’s rights & government’s duties to enforce standards VS. public’s rights & government’s duties to enforce standards issues-- what standards, whose standards? issues-- what standards, whose standards?

27. Typology of Iconoclasts A-- against images A-- against images B-against “freeze-frame” B-against “freeze-frame” C-against opponents’ images C-against opponents’ images D-Unwitting destroyers D-Unwitting destroyers E-Ironic destroyers E-Ironic destroyers

28. Recall: Panofsky