Re: Sturges

Peter Marshall (petermarshall@cix.compulink.co.uk)
Thu, 05 Mar 1998 19:55 +0000

In-Reply-To: <199803051615.IAA02099@sweden.it.earthlink.net>
> >From the end of the NYT article quoted by the writer the following:
>
> > Someone should defend Sturges and Hamilton legally. Esthetically,
> >they're on their own.
>
> Thrown in almost as an afterthought the article makes a weak qualified
> defence of Sturges' and Hamilton's right to expression. Note the
> "someone",
> not the author of the NYT piece, but just "someone." Not "we" or "I."
>
> This sort of thing happened during the Cleveland Art Institute
> Mapplethorpe
> affair. Everyone took the censorship issue at hand to debate whether his
> gay sado-masochistic images were good art, bad art, good taste or bad
> taste. It is a mixing of apples and oranges and quite dangerous to our
> freedom of expression. I have withheld any opinion of Sturges or
> Hamilton's
> artistic merit precisely because it is not the issue and people who
> attempt
> to mix this in are only creating a very dangerous fog.

Dick

I think that it is actually important in this case, as the defence at
least in the UK would I think have to be on the grounds of artistic merit
- as in the Lady Chatterley case many years ago.

I think she is wrong about Sturges but would find it difficult to argue
with her assessment of Hamilton (and certainly she is right about Sally
Mann.)

There is much law that prescribes freedom of expression, some of which I
find acceptable. In these particular cases I think the law in the UK is
certainly ridiculous (and would appear so in the UK). I expect the UK case
to be dropped pretty quickly - I hope I'm right. Some of my 'Family
Pictures' project from the early 80's - including a couple on the web site
- would almost certainly get me investigated if I dropped them in the
local chemist these days.

Peter Marshall

On Fixing Shadows and elsewhere:
http://www.people.virginia.edu/~ds8s
Family Pictures, German Indications, London demonstrations &
The Buildings of London etc: http://www.spelthorne.ac.uk/pm/