Ethics and the Arts

‘Art has the power to upset, to disturb, to make us question our assumptions, to change us.’ 

(Berys Gaut, 2007)

Working in the arts there are a lot of ethical considerations that need to be taken into account. We are creating things for an audience, whether it be a dance, a song, a play, a painting… With this comes responsibility. By creating this ‘art’ we are having an impact on people around us. But is this a good thing?

Upset

Art can and undoubtedly will upset some people. People can be triggered by many different things that can lead to sadness. An example for me, is Damien Hirst and his use of animals as ‘art’. Personally, I don’t believe work like, ‘Mother and Child (Divided)’ are ethical. He has used real animals, in this instance a cow and a calf, and used them for his art. Sometimes he keeps them whole and sometimes he bisects them. He then puts them in glass cabinets with formaldehyde (Biography, 2014). Consequently, many innocent animals lost their lives and suffered for ‘art’. Some people would think this is ethically fine because of their own beliefs about animals and equality. However other people, myself included, believe this isn’t ethical, which is again down to our own personal morals and beliefs. 

Disturbing

Art can be disturbing as well as upsetting (Gaut, 2007). But being disturbed by something doesn’t necessarily mean your upset. People are often fascinated by grotesque and taboo subjects. Maybe art is a good way to explore these ideas. Many artists like Peter Paul Rubens, Théodore Géricault and Andy Warhol have been said to create some disturbing art (Mental Floss, 2012). Surely it better to be exploring disturbing ideas, such as murder and cannibalism in art, than to explore them in real life? However, once you have created a piece of art, it is out there for the world to see. You are no longer in control of who comes into contact with it. Does this mean it is responsible to create disturbing art that potentially vulnerable people or even children could witness and be influenced by? 

Questioning our Assumptions

Maybe this could be seen as a more positive side of ethics with in the arts. As artists we have a platform that we can use to reach out to a wider audience. We can use this in a positive way and spread awareness of certain subjects, like women’s rights, racism, animal rights, environmental issues. An assumption is ‘a thing that is accepted as true or as certain to happen, without proof.’ (Oxford English Dictionaries, 2020) As artists, do we then have an ethical and moral responsibility to spread knowledge that others may not have? We could help change assumptions, or at least get people questioning their own assumptions and beliefs. But, what about privacy? As the saying goes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Are we pushing the boundaries to far and intruding on people’s lives?

Change

Change is scary. Often people are reluctant to change because we feel safe in what we already know. We associate change with chaos (Pritchett (1996). Does this mean as artists we need to be aware of the change we could provoke due to our art? Are we being ethical if we purposely set out to start change from our creations? People could use it in a positive way, but it could also be taken advantage of and be damaging to society.


Art is powerful. In my opinion, to be ethical artists we need to be aware of the power it can have. These are just a few points that I have explored but there are many more.


From this post you can see I’ve put a lot of questions. This is because ethics is about the questioning of the process, not the answers. By questioning ourselves we are gaining a deeper understanding of our practices and our own assumptions. This is something I’ve realised is vital for this course and so I am trying to question myself more.



Inspirations for this blog: 
https://olivia-gracethompson.blogspot.com/2020/02/campus-day-17th-february.html?showComment=1583859911758#c2913241488481951459

http://adesolaa.blogspot.com/2020/02/thinking-about-ethical-considerations.html#comment-form


References
Gaut, B., (2007). Art, emotion and ethics. Oxford University Press.

Biography (2014) Damien Hirst Biography, Available at: https://www.biography.com/artist/damien-hirst (Accessed: 10/03/2020)

Mental Floss (2012) 13 Disturbing Pieces of Art from History, Available at: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31477/13-disturbing-pieces-art-history (Accessed 10/03/2020)

Pritchett. P. (1996) Resistance: Moving Beyond the Barriers to Change, Pritchett and Associate, Dallas, TX