From: Galina (galina@online.no)
Date: 10/12/03-07:10:40 AM Z
Jock Sturges and David Hamilton do not interest me at all, because
their work belongs to the field of "banana-nalities" - the elementary,
the simple, the direct, the obvious, the "everybody knows" field...
I have to look up Weston´s Cole again and think about it before I say
something I might regret later,
but thank you for bringing it up, Pam, interesting...
Galina.
www.galina.no
On Saturday, Oct 11, 2003, at 17:48 Europe/Oslo, Ender100@aol.com wrote:
> Galina,
>
> Where would you place the work of Jock Sturges and David Hamilton when
> considering Sally Mann?
>
> Mark Nelson
>
> In a message dated 10/11/03 9:42:44 AM, galina@online.no writes:
>
>
> Hello everybody,
>
> it has been a while since I participated in a debate here, but Sally
> Mann is an interesting subject...
>
> I have personally tried to understand how it all works: why some work
> obviously looks like prostitution (Sally Mann) while some other is a
> serious and respectable piece of art (Diane Arbus, Witkin).
>
> If I could find the right words for the definition of the differences,
> it could be a guide for all of us. But sometimes it is nearly
> impossible to formulate the differences, therefore there is so much
> discussion about it.
>
> Even though I can not explain exactly why, but I am sure that Sally
> Mann´s work is the worst kind of prostitution, especially because she
> is not selling her own body like Cindy Sherman, but bodies of her own
> and other helpless children and other victims. That is why her other
> work that is not based on selling the bodies is not awakening any
> interest at all.
>
> The even worse consequence of this kind of prostitution is the fact
> that it is so inspiring for the thieves, who make it a hundred times
> more dangerous through plagiarism. Here in Norway there is an artist
> copying Sally Mann´s work and exploiting her children just in the same
> hopeless manner. I have seen a few examples of her work that make me
> really upset. The worst thing is that this norwegian artist thinks
> probably that she is unique and is not even aware of her plagiarism...
> But their purposes are the same - to get attention... which they both
> achieved.
>
> I have nothing against conceptualism and the art that is following
> intellectual threads, I can respect provocations, imitations and
> homages. But I really hate speculative works that lack elementary norms
> of morality and pretend to be what they are not.
>
> I have been giving a lecture newly where I tried to explain the
> difference between photographs of Lewis Caroll and Sally Mann, both
> showing hidden eroticism shining through the small children. And
> believe me that I am not a moralist of the worst kind...
>
> In short, it all is about small differences, that can make the same
> subject and the same idea either beautiful or disgusting, depending on
> the purpose of the intentions. If the purpose is to show the beauty and
> to express the deep feeling, to share an emotion - it will gain my
> respect. If the intention is to get attention and money... I am sorry.
>
> With best regards to you all,
>
> Galina
>
>
>
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