Pornography and censorship issues involving the artist Eli Langer

The essay makes an argument regarding the issues raised by the censoring of creative works. It was crucial to discuss Eli Langer and Sally Mann's biographies in the paper together with their creative output. The majority of the paper's topic centers on how the artistic creations of gifted artists have given rise to conflict with the recently passed statute regarding child pornography. In Canada, though, the law is introducing a bit of an anomaly into the constitution. The recently added legal provision has brought the idea of misunderstanding. For instance, it is legal for two people of age 16 years to engage in a sexual act, but it is illegal to represent the act through paintings or drawings. The Canadian Law, which advocates for the censorship of the artistic works does not clarify the difference that exists between the freedom of expression and art. For example, in the case of Eli Lange, the police raided his artistic works in 1993, but according to the viewers and veteran artists, they met the artistic merit.

The constitution is overbroad and does not clarify what acts can exactly be described as child pornography. The issue is also overwhelming, and perpetrators have taken advantage that the society is confused about the proper actions to be used in curbing the problem. Legislators have also refused to recognize their ultimate goals as the elected leaders of the society. Perhaps, the society needs to be taught about the advantages and disadvantages that come with the protection of the freedom of expression and art as well. In doing so, we cannot stop an idea whose time for causing damage to the society has come.





Background information about Eli Langer and his Artistic Works

Mr. Eli Langer is a visual artist from Canada who rose to fame in 1993 when he was 26 years old. During that time, Eli Langer had a solo art exhibition at Mercer Union Gallery, Toronto. The exhibition comprises of 50 drawings and 8 paintings addressing several issues about childhood sexuality. However, the police raided the exhibition because it was against the new legislation about Child Pornography. During the raid incidence, 35 drawings and 5 paintings were seized. As mentioned before, the reason for the raid was that Eli Langer’s exhibition coincided with the added section 163.1 of the Child Pornography Law. The section of the criminal code forbids artists from depicting a person who is 17years and below engaging in an explicit sexual activity.

Moreover, the law does not specify the difference between the artistic works that are based on imagination and those, which are based on reality. Even after the arrest of the Mercy Union Gallery Director and Eli Langer, the only things that were put on trial were the paintings. Even known figures of the art community of Canada testified that the works exhibited by Eli Langer had some artistic merit. Towards the end of the legal process, Langer’s works were exonerated and returned to him. Following the exoneration of the Langer’s artistic works, polices are now required to obtain search warrants through strict scrutiny. In that case, experienced judges are the ones who should issue the warrants.

According to Eli Langer, it was a difficult experience being at the center between legal interpretations and media sensationalism. However, the experience did not interrupt Langer’s developments and interest as an artist. Langer even stated that the event was just a culmination testing the boundary that exists between creativity and moral conventions. The incidence even made freedom of expression and art a serious topic of discussion across Canada. Langer’s art practice even grew beyond the immorality issue. Eli Langer was affected while he was a young painter, but he managed to overcome and exhaust the willingness that comes with moralistic and legal entities.

Mr. Eli Langer has done several artistic works, and the list of them include the Apothecary Paint, Delirious Night Paint, Two Be One Paint, Bedtime Story Paint, Winter Flowers Paint, Feminine Mystique Paint, Eastern Light Paint, Feminine Figure Paint, Three Sisters Paint, Du Printemps Paint, and Her Cabinet Paint. Most of these paints were released in 2015. They were also made using oil on canvas. Apart from the solo exhibitions, which were held in 2015, Eli Langer also participated on the Clint Roenisch Gallery. The exhibition was held in 2012. It was about Caravansary of Joy. He also participated in the Night Gallery, which was about spontaneous modeling and drawing. The event was held in Los Angeles, California in 2009.

Sally Mann Artwork

Sally Mann is a photographer from America who is known for intimate black and white portraits. A large number of the portraits are about the documentation of the American South landscape. She even documents portraits of her family through photography. Most her images have antique appearance because of her interest in the technology of the early photography. Sally employs the technology of 8 by 10 bellows camera for achieving the antique effect in her art works. Mann has managed to combine this technology with experimenting technique involving bromide and platinum printing process. Like Eli Langer, Sally Mann has also caused controversy with her artistic works. The controversy was as a result of her nude photographs, including the photos of her young children who appeared to be unclothed.

The incidence caused repeated outcries; thus the artistic works of Sally Mann called for censorship. According to Sally Mann, the footprints of the photographs were taken in the sand along the riverbank. So, was it the childhood moment reflected in these photographs, which ignited controversy. She even emphasized that the photos were about their family moments and the children were the ones who enriched it. Sally Mann is also afraid of losing the photos because if they are seized there will be nothing left to tell the story about her beautiful family.

Research Question

Any person can make a mistake in life, which is the nature of human beings. Nevertheless, the type of the artistic works with which the censorship applies to have proven to be sexual abusers and serial predators to the welfare of children. Moreover, the Canadian Censorship has brought in some controversies with the artistic works produced by the likes of Eli Langer. In that case, the overwhelming question is how the new legislation about censorship of artistic works will protect children from active molesters. Research shows that they form 80% of the people who purchase child pornography.









Critical analysis

Cyber teen pornography has increasingly become an evident problem in the society of today. However, the subject has been avoided in both the research and social circles due to the atrocious abuses targeting children. Also, camera and other multimedia software (s) have become affordable and easier to operate, thus simplifying the distribution of child pornography. For that reason, some of the artistic activities, which portray child pornography such as Langer’s works have found themselves readily available. As mentioned before, Langer has boldly developed sexual ambiguity through his works. Most of them have inadvertently addressed the existing cultural taboos and formation of morality as well. His paintings are mainly informed by social and intuitive personal drives. However, Canadian Censorship has influenced the manner in which artistic works are delivered.

The works of Eli Langer explores the existence of intimacy phenomenon without compensating cultural or social consent. Being that pornography is difficult to define, censorship of some artistic works has created much debate about the issue. What is viewed as a pornography will vary from one society to another, one person to another, and this will happen over time? Moreover, the term has been broadly debated to be materials that sexually explicit and specifically designed to result in sexual arousal amongst viewers. The materials are considered harmful when they cause sexual arousal among children or youths who are 17 years and below. For that reason, there are debates about censorship of some artistic works. However, when you have a scrutiny of the criminal law regarding child pornography, the law uses the word obscenity instead of pornography. Also, the lack of consensus about the definition of child pornography has made it difficult in determining the factors that contribute to the prevalence of pornography. Do these factors also include artistic paints and drawings?

The criminal code, which is about Canadian Censorship was enacted in 1993 prohibits the production, distribution, sale, and possession of child pornography. According to the criminal code and Canadian Censorship, child pornography is defined as follows: visual representations illustrating explicit sexual activity involving a person who is below the age of 18 years old. Written materials that also advocate for illegal sexual act involving people who are 17 years and below are also considered child pornography. The law states it clearly that artistic works should not be about visual representations of any sexual nature involving the persons of age 18 years and below. However, in both Canada and the US, prosecuting process regarding the cases involving child pornography has been put in the reality that the child is the center of the attention.

Moreover, most of the cases about child pornography require the court to take on the gaze, which will root children pictures harboring secret pedophilic appeal. The same law has opened a new arena, which elaborates the exploration of children as the objects of sexual creatures. Judgement determined by pedophilic gaze can also be extended towards materials that have increasingly become mundane. The trend of pedophilic gaze is very distressing given that there is evidence showing that some arts depicted innocent pictures and paintings of children.

Perhaps, the Canadian Law about the censorship of artistic works is about making already bad law worse. It is becoming worse because the introduced law is striking the down the rights of artists the freedom of expression and speech. Over a decade, the law against obscenity has appeared to be conceptually inchoate. However, according to the Justice Ministry, the original notion about the child pornography was reasonably coherent. The primary idea behind the original law states that any art commissioning sexual crime against young youths should be prohibited. For instance, it is not legal for any adult to take part in any sexual act with the person who is below 18 years old. The previous law also prohibits inducement or prostitution act with a person who is 17 years old and below. Such kind of acts are crimes against the young people and children. However, the representation such acts have also extended and perpetuated the harm, which was already caused by the original violation. Moreover, the new law promoting the censorship of artistic work contains a novel feature. Whereas the obscenity law criminalizes the creation and circulation of explicit materials, the law about child pornography also criminalizes possession of the artistic work depicting child pornography. Child pornography is the first law in Canada to criminalize people who possess expensive materials.

Regrettably, the law, which was passed by the parliament in 1993, has proven to be different from what was envisaged by its drafters. After it had reached the hands of the commissioners, the law was expanded drastically by the legislatures. In that case, the law that was hurriedly passed in 1993 is constitutionally overbroad. There are some terms such as over-breadth, meaning in legal circles. Thus, capturing legal materials and activities. In that case, there some issues such possession of materials that should not apply to a person being criminalized. The definition of the criminal code about child pornography is overbroad because the prohibition of child pornography does not restrict the actual representation of children, but allow the presentation of the people who are above 18 years old. However, the law is not clear how the depiction of children images causes direct harm to them.

Furthermore, the definition of a child is too broad. The law describes a child to be a person who is 17 years and below. In Canada, the age for sexual consent is 14, and this has created anomaly with the lawful act because an artistic representation now becomes unlawful representation. It is no different that is lawful for two children who are of sixteen years old to engage in sex and at the same it is illegal to have a photograph of them. Therefore, it is not clear how an activity, which is considered lawful can cause harm when transformed into a representation. The same criminal code also criminalizes written materials, which advocate for illegal sexual acts. However, according to the constitution, it is legal to verbally advocates for such kind of illegal activities.

In conclusion, child pornography is an overwhelming issue in the society of today. However, perpetrators of the illegal acts have also taken the advantage of the misconceived proposal of the newly introduced legislation about child pornography. The law promoting the censorship of artistic works does not address the deep misunderstanding that exists between democracy and art. Protection of freedom of expression and art at the same time should be the ultimate goal of every legislature. Prohibiting art might not be the right solution, but stakeholders involved should understand that it is difficult to resist an idea whose time has come. If it is a bad idea, the only hope of the public is that idea should be the one, which its time has come.

Bibliography

Bernadette H. Schell, Patrick C.K. Hung, Miguel Vargas Martin, Luis Ruenda. Cyber Child Pornography: A Review Paper of the Social and Legal Issues and Remedies – and a Proposed Technological Solution, 2006.

Frank Addario, Goldblatt, Mitchel, and Sack: Protecting Pursuits that relate to the culture of the country: Advocating for the artistic Merit Defense in Bill C-12. Megan Davis Williams Canadian Conference of the Arts, 2003.

John Chambers. Perceptual Realism. Photos by Eberhard Otto. 1969.

Lorraine Weir. Making Up Stories: Law and Imagination in Contemporary Canada. University of British Colombia, 2003.

Persky, Stan and John Dixon. On Kiddie Porn: Sexual Representation, Free Speech and the Robin Sharpe Case. Vancouver: New Star, 2001

Stan Pesky and John Dixon. Making a Bad Law Worse. Capilano College, 2002.

Robert J. Danay, The Danger of Fighting Monsters: Addressing the Hidden Harms of Child Pornography Law, 11 Rev. Const. Stud. 151, 192, 2006.

http://clintroenisch.com/artists/eli-langer/#image-list

https://theartstack.com/artist/eli-langer/about

http://www.artnet.com/artists/sally-mann/