tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post6574240968347341166..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: 2020 Open Letter in Support of Bill HensonAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-41002799013318214702008-06-02T13:04:00.000+10:002008-06-02T13:04:00.000+10:00"But that is I think a function of society where t..."But that is I think a function of society where the production, use and trading of child pornography is increasing, fuelled in main part by the ease of image transfer on the internet, and many are at a loss as to how to combat this beyond stricter law enforcement measures."<BR/><BR/>Today, they know they are legion. <BR/><BR/>It is basically over, the issue is as some of you have noted, Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-87869976244151655282008-05-31T22:10:00.000+10:002008-05-31T22:10:00.000+10:00Conceded, Ms Naughty; though I deny ever expressin...Conceded, Ms Naughty; though I deny ever expressing anything like contempt for "anything sexual". I wish that sentence had been better cast. One never gets everything right. A question though: is all sexually explicit material pornographic? What does "porn" mean these days?<BR/><BR/>I have realised I have a private usage of the word pornography which is not necessarily accurate, one which is Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-24380333012753954812008-05-31T20:48:00.000+10:002008-05-31T20:48:00.000+10:00Alison, I'm fairly late to this thread, however I ...Alison, I'm fairly late to this thread, however I wanted to add my small criticism of your letter. While I agree with the vast majority of the expressed sentiments, I have to take issue with the statement: "The defining essence of pornography is that it endorses, condones or encourages abusive sexual practice."<BR/><BR/>Not all sexually explicit material is abusive or exploitative. A lot of it isAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-54894706025729037432008-05-31T14:42:00.000+10:002008-05-31T14:42:00.000+10:00I have just deleted a defamatory and abusive comme...I have just deleted a defamatory and abusive comment from Jeffrey Browne, who clearly has not read this thread. As I said earlier, comments which are abusive and which bear no relation or rational argument or fact will forthwith summarily removed. And that goes for defamatory accusations as well.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-57167830292728166852008-05-29T16:18:00.000+10:002008-05-29T16:18:00.000+10:00IH, I'll accept your rebuke to this extent: I'll b...IH, I'll accept your rebuke to this extent: I'll believe you that Biddulph is an intelligent person and competent at what he does. I have no reason to think otherwise. But I still found <I>his article</I> to be naive, and ... er, the reasoning unsound ... I don't think any of us should defer to the author's authority.<BR/><BR/>I think the best post on this thread is the one from Alison, where sheRussell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-22152626956012553352008-05-29T14:03:00.000+10:002008-05-29T14:03:00.000+10:00YouTube link and transcript for video demonstratin...YouTube link and transcript for video demonstrating the ambiguity of art - 'Innocent or Guilty?'<BR/><BR/>Here is the YouTube link and transcript for ‘Innocent or Guilty?’<BR/><BR/>http://youtube.com/watch?v=-uKwUT6-_Ec<BR/><BR/>Innocent or Guilty? <BR/><BR/>This video was inspired by the article ‘Small-minded attitudes cloud responses to art,’ by Larissa Dubecki, in The Age, May 26, 2008<BR/><BRAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-16076477149965643602008-05-29T07:06:00.000+10:002008-05-29T07:06:00.000+10:00What next Australia?. Public book burnings of Nabo...What next Australia?. Public book burnings of Nabokov's Lolita?.<BR/><BR/>As an expat Australian, this is just the sort of Philistinism that makes me never want to go back. And yes, cultural cringe is here again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-64411578321162163332008-05-29T03:05:00.000+10:002008-05-29T03:05:00.000+10:00& the myths they use to construct 'identity' in th...& the myths they use to construct 'identity' in their newspapers are pornographic in themselves<BR/><BR/>australian men like the canadians, & the irish were led to slaughter in the first world war as if they wer pigs in some unseemly abbatoir. contrary to myth, the majority of men came back broken - even an elementary reading of both history & the novels of this period tell us how broken. & Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-33814274123712543622008-05-29T02:48:00.000+10:002008-05-29T02:48:00.000+10:00To Russell Blackford…Thanks for your response to m...To Russell Blackford…<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your response to my post. I think you make some interesting points. (And apologies for dubbing a thirteen year old a child. In my thirties that is how I see thirteen year olds and yes that is probably condescending!)<BR/> <BR/>You note: "parents may (understandably) want to have a final say over matters of consequence, but it is wrong and offensive to Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-30455521685137087852008-05-29T01:24:00.000+10:002008-05-29T01:24:00.000+10:00Hello dear,I don't mean to be rude, I mean it's g...Hello dear,<BR/><BR/>I don't mean to be rude, I mean <BR/>it's great that this debate is being had, but I would like to ask a few questions, if I may:<BR/><BR/>After more than 15 years of Bill Henson's work on the same subject, are we arguing because..?<BR/><BR/>a. we don't want a copycat horror story like Josef Frankl in our country?<BR/><BR/>b. the government is using Henson as a way of abknowzerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07910494212944041995noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-82742022868118728562008-05-29T01:10:00.001+10:002008-05-29T01:10:00.001+10:00to Anon/12:56 AM, May 29, 2008"murdoch & his minio...to Anon/12:56 AM, May 29, 2008<BR/>"murdoch & his minions & mendicant determine all public discourse in australia for a very long time"<BR/><BR/>yes,yes,yes<BR/><BR/>"...journalists have been the principal builders of complicity, they are the architects who hide the underclass in australia with the constant screaming of celebrities. they initiate & enable the worst in the australian character - Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-78847771876885711402008-05-29T01:10:00.000+10:002008-05-29T01:10:00.000+10:00I congratulate the previous writer (anonymous 12.0...I congratulate the previous writer (anonymous 12.06am 29/05/2008) thank God, even with one person acknowledging it, might the three evils of 666 be The Times, The NYPost, and WallSt Journal?? (gasp shock horror tis true!) it certainly is... Packer, Murdoch, Fairfax... another 666... Go Ms Croggon, Ms Blanchet, the artworld at large knows what is art and what is not. For those looking down the Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-22801917718417879402008-05-29T00:56:00.000+10:002008-05-29T00:56:00.000+10:00RE Anon/9:08 AM, May 28, 2008 ...is that u Billy? ...RE Anon/9:08 AM, May 28, 2008 ...is that u Billy? "the dark & obese shadow of robert menzies haunts australia still...".Might I add,to quote Menzies circa 1935/40? at prominant art opening of the day(apologies ref escapes me)"..there will be none of that French stuff here".And so it goes,a 40 year wasteland without the education and dialogue of dada has left a deep imprint to those indigenous(ie Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-36454866720810078892008-05-29T00:06:00.000+10:002008-05-29T00:06:00.000+10:00murdoch & his minions & mendicant determine all pu...murdoch & his minions & mendicant determine all public discourse in australia for a very long time<BR/><BR/>australia has had the misfortune for over a century to have owners of media who are in essence - glorified gangster. proud of their speculations & their quick rushes of liquidity from we know not where<BR/><BR/>'journalists' are an infamous species in australia. the crimes & i use that Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-46090736318457879472008-05-28T22:50:00.000+10:002008-05-28T22:50:00.000+10:00To "IH" ...Lots of us can be "disturbed" by things...To "IH" ...<BR/><BR/>Lots of us can be "disturbed" by things that we did as young people (we really must avoid calling teenagers "children", which is demeaning to them and in my opinion an offensive use of language). <BR/><BR/>However, we may also be disturbed at a later time by things we did as young adults in our twenties, or as middle-aged adults, or as elderly folks, or whatever. People do Russell Blackfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12431324430596809958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-64608889774665139182008-05-28T20:50:00.000+10:002008-05-28T20:50:00.000+10:00Thank you so much for doing what you're doing, Ali...Thank you so much for doing what you're doing, Alison. It is vital work and you'll be dragged through the mud of Australian anti-intellectualism in the process. I wish I could support with more than just words.John Fordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16468252593776680584noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-25443995068683341852008-05-28T20:14:00.000+10:002008-05-28T20:14:00.000+10:00When I was eighteen I went to see David Hamilton's...When I was eighteen I went to see David Hamilton's film "Bilitis." It bored my stupid, but should I now just present myself for handcuffs and imprisonment to the NSW rozzers?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-69496106583169374492008-05-28T19:04:00.000+10:002008-05-28T19:04:00.000+10:00Thank you for writing the letter Alison. I'm over...Thank you for writing the letter Alison. I'm overseas at the moment but I'm glad that local artists are banding together to support an artist who has given us so much over the years - NickAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-23507965696008026332008-05-28T18:53:00.000+10:002008-05-28T18:53:00.000+10:00Hi Alison,It seems your letter has (quite rightly)...Hi Alison,<BR/>It seems your letter has (quite rightly) stirred up a lot of debate, as well as a few vicious responses. For what it's worth, I was proud and relieved to see your letter supported by so many respected artists in the community. <BR/>Sometimes the media can (rightly or wrongly) give the impression that an overwhelming majority are of the same unimaginative view in this matter. It's rhyspeakinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14670830952412878640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-63225843699460041052008-05-28T18:46:00.000+10:002008-05-28T18:46:00.000+10:00Two interesting opinion pieces in The Age below, t...Two interesting opinion pieces in The Age below, that also consider consent. <BR/><BR/>I actually think this is a very difficult issue. As I see it art or pornography is in the intention of the creator (this is true legally, although with minors the consent issue is also important) but it is also arguably in the eye of the beholder. This in itself is not the fault of an artist. He/she cannot Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-57057881142633085912008-05-28T17:54:00.000+10:002008-05-28T17:54:00.000+10:00You know, Bob Ellis, a number of years ago, wrote ...You know, Bob Ellis, a number of years ago, wrote the screenplay for a film called "Goodbye Paradise." It ended with a fascist government taking over the imposing martial law. We all thought it was just one of Ellis' red-wine-inspired fantasies. Today, we've got the PM declaring an artist's work he hasn't seen as "revolting" and standing by silently approving police intervention and threats of Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-77803341591812343522008-05-28T17:07:00.000+10:002008-05-28T17:07:00.000+10:00The petition:http://www.petitiononline.com/bh28050...The petition:<BR/>http://www.petitiononline.com/bh280508/petition.htmlGeoffreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05409350618909242278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10529003102215548722008-05-28T16:54:00.000+10:002008-05-28T16:54:00.000+10:00Thank you, Alison and others, who are against this...Thank you, Alison and others, who are against this total idiotism!!!<BR/><BR/>I've moved to Melbourne almost 20 years ago from a completely f@$%ed-up country when it used to come to the freedom of expressing yourself (being you an artist, or writer, or director, or just a thinking person...)<BR/> <BR/>Can't believe this debate is happening in the 21st century in Australia!!! <BR/>In the Soviet Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-36924781496032438692008-05-28T15:50:00.000+10:002008-05-28T15:50:00.000+10:00Bravo Alison. I support you, for the reasons outli...Bravo Alison. I support you, for the reasons outlined in my blog today.susannahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744492864469645634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-54044597294242141322008-05-28T14:37:00.000+10:002008-05-28T14:37:00.000+10:00Oh, and Anon, your fevered imagination can rest ea...Oh, and Anon, your fevered imagination can rest easy. I am not typing this naked, because it's bloody freezing today. But I am quite nude inside my clothes.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.com