Are breasts in art becoming passé?
Have you ever been looking in some kind of fashion editorial, possibly an arthouse movie, a painting or more particularly a photo gallery and come across (all too often) some exposed breasts and think to yourself ..... I'm not sure if I care anymore?
Sure, it can be tasteful. Even purposefully not.
Some males out there may even be reading this post and think that theres no such thing as too much boob in the world.
But im not talking visual stimulation in the way that gets you kind of happy in the pants, but the kind of visually stimulating image that you get when you look at a womans breasts in an artistic sense and see a more three dimensional point of view.
As someone who is deeply influenced by photographers such as Helmut Newton, Ellen Von Unwerth and company, i am a huge advocate for nudity in art.
Particularly with the pretense of generating a certain strong, sensual atmopshere in a shot.
But lately the atmosphere has been clouded by a giant waft of something...well...stale.
Been there.
Done that.
Seen the photo.
As with everything that our present society likes to do by taking a good thing, briefly respecting it, smashing it into tiny little pieces and regurgitating it as an "original" idea - it has left me unsettled that even something as natural and organic as the feminine form is sucumbing to that very notion.
Are we not trying hard enough to evolve artistically anymore?
I find todays modern generation quite vapid and jealous of our predescessors.
Whether it be in fashion, culture, vernacular and, more importantly for this argument, art.
Which is ironic considering modern by definition is to be cutting edge, avant garde and forward thinking...
Sure there are many exceptions to my argument, but there is also a lot of evidence to suggest that we in fact have not moved forward in this area at all.
It seems that every which way we turn people are trying fervently to be original and out do each other with the next 15 minute phase, but in twenty years time i doubt we will look back at any of these trends and images as iconic to our own era.
Are we too indifferent to be defined?
Is it the media?
I know, cue the groans. Yes it always seems like the media is used as an easy scapegoat, but after all it is a scapegoat for a reason, so im just going to go ahead and leave this thought right here because i think the media influences everything we do no matter how hard we try to deny it.
Is our fast paced society to blame for lack of originality?
Possible.
As a generation could we too busy and self-involved than we used to be in order to feed and breed from our surroundings?
Should we blame the post-90's fame-whore movement?
Is it that we now place more importance on the 'who' rather than the 'what' due to the ever popularising culture of the celebrity?
I mean using fame as a selling point has always been present in marketing of all facets, but living in a society when you can be famous for doing nothing at all appears to me that we have had a shift in where we think worthiness lies. So in saying this, could it be possible that the culprits are merely recycling whats already popular as a form of artistic license?
After all, you cant lose with whats already won.
And if its quick notoritity you're after, a nip-slip (especially done in that brooding black and white dahhhling) seems to be the quickest way to gain street cred and brownie points in photography class 101.
Or alternatively, has over-exposure (in all senses of the phrase) left us too desensitised to be left affected by how we view art?
Rather than my prior speculations, being that we are stealing already established ideas, is it more so that nudity and breasts in art are now just too... normal?
Evoking no significance that it used to.
As meaningless as a woman baring her legs.
That in itself is a perfect example.
We would not bat an eyelid in shock at a woman wearing a mini-skirt that practically shows what she had for breakfast, but back in the day that was percieved in a very different light both in society and in art.
Depending on your point of view, we may have or may not have evolved.
But my point is that whatever the source is, i am not sure i like where this is going.
There is nothing interesting about art that has become cliché.
I for one do not wish to be bombarded from all angles by a bare chest and a pensive look in monotone shot by every so-called 'photographer' desperate for a slow clap.
Behind every image should be a purpose.
And if you have nothing real to portray, then im sorry but i dont see anything deep about it at all...all i see is a nice rack.
And if i wanted just that, i would go to xnxx and be done with it.
That is all.
