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September 26, 2007
Elton John's Nan Goldin Kiddie Porn Seized
Child porn from Sir Elton John's private collection has been seized by British police from an exhibit at the Baltic modern art gallery in Tyneside, England, where it hung by similar works by its creator, photographer Nan Goldin, and others who have learned to transform degeneracy into cash via the sick sham that now passes for the world of art.
Goldin specializes in photographing prostitutes, homosexuals, transvestites, fellow drug addicts, derelicts, and other assorted perverts and weirdos, often during sex. The quality of her work is generally what you would expect from a drunk with a Polaroid, so the degenerate subject matter must be the whole point.
A sympathetic visitor to the exhibit had a strong enough stomach to partake of this haute couture:
There a man holding his penis, which is a bit odd and pictures of people in coffins who appear to be dead but may not be.
There are three exhibitions with very bizarre content and all carry warnings. Nan Goldin's was the most uncomfortable of the three but there was certainly nothing in any of them that I found grossly offensive.
Nonetheless, the idea of subjecting children to Goldin's world would make any decent person shudder in horror.
Yet not everyone objects. Richard Dorment of the Telegraph responds to the kiddie porn with a yawn and "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (Shamed be he who thinks evil of it). He does make an interesting point:
The trouble with censorship of any kind is that what shocks us today has a way of looking completely innocuous to the next generation.
Give some thought to the idea that in the future, no one will have a problem with naked children photographed in an aggressively depraved and sexual context. We do seem to be headed toward that future.
On a tip from Cheetah.
Posted by Van Helsing at September 26, 2007 9:03 AM
Comments
She moved to New York after graduating from art school where she took became known for pictures of alcoholics, drug addicts and Aids sufferers. She was admitted to rehab in the 1990s and much of her work since has reflected her own experiences.
Naturally, a degenerate musician like Sir Elton would be drawn to the work of a degenerate photographer.
Posted by: V the K at September 26, 2007 9:39 AM
And linked to that story, is this one: Hardcore Pronography comes to the London Stage.
Posted by: V the K at September 26, 2007 9:44 AM
Goldin specializes in photographing prostitutes, homosexuals, transvestites, fellow drug addicts, derelicts, and other assorted perverts and weirdos.
So, her peers, in other words.
Posted by: Anonymous at September 26, 2007 10:06 AM
My favorite saying came from a fortune cookie:
"What is vice today may be virtue tomorrow". Unfortunatle, I have seen that the OPPOSIT is also true: "What was virtue yesterday may be vice tomorrow".
HONOR, PATRIOTISM, AMBITION and SELF-RELIANCE.
Posted by: KHarn at September 26, 2007 10:35 AM
"THAT'S A MAN, MAN!"
Posted by: Gregory at September 27, 2007 12:26 AM
Yes, of course...oh, horrors. Please. It's a picture of two little girls playing at belly dancing and there are no sexual overtones save those the viewer brings to the work themselves. It is only after sinning that Adam & Eve find nudity shameful. Nudity is natural in the eyes of God.
If only we were so zealous about saving the dignity of the orphans on the streets of Baghdad.
Posted by: Will Belegon at September 27, 2007 9:33 AM
Will, it's two MEN. Open your eyes.
Posted by: KHarn at September 27, 2007 10:27 AM
KHarn, I think you're aware of my point and laughing with me in the best possible way to prevent over-zealous behavior. Show it for what it is using humor. Point out the unclothed emperor.
But just to clarify, I am speaking of the photograph which was seized. That photograph does not appear on this site, nor should it. Because I may not automatically sexualize nudity does not mean I believe the photograph in question should be displayed without the appropriate warnings and setting. It is meant to be displayed in a gallery in controlled conditions.
But the photograph was not known to me, nor was it public, until after the actions of the police. They are the ones who have made it a "public" work.
This wasn't news until Elton John's name was attached to it. It is a transparent case of bias.
Posted by: Will Belegon at September 27, 2007 1:28 PM
Will, the problem isn't that some phony pretending to be cultured might look at the dirty picture, warnings or no warnings. The problem is that children were made to pose for it.
Posted by: Van Helsing at September 27, 2007 1:36 PM
That photograph looked anything but posed to me... and you are right in that a candid photograph and a posed photograph carry different implications inyou a many ways.
But that photograph is in no way designed to titillate, IMHO. Of course, I am not the photographer. So I am making as large an assumption as anyone.
Which is my point in a way... the overtones of the photograph are primarily the ones we as an audience bring to it.
Posted by: Will Belegon at September 27, 2007 2:51 PM
Its a transparent case of bias to suppress Elton John's involvement.
Posted by: Freedom Now at September 28, 2007 11:31 AM
