Battles over controversial art are nothing new

The thought-provoking Action Speaks! discussion series continues tonight at AS220, and I have a preview on the topic (the introduction of Prozac and the prospects it raised for freedom of the mind) here.

In light of current events, however, next week's topic -- about freedom in art and Marcel Duchamp's unveiling of a signed urinal in 1917 -- seems even more exciting.

Some would have us believe that the controversies involving the NEA and artists like Andres Serrano and Robert Mapplethrope in the late '80s and early '90s signaled the rise of more sensationalistic art.

In fact, as Duchamp's piece demonstrates, art has long pushed people's buttons.

Some favor an emphasis in art on "beauty." That gives short shrift, though, to the social value of works like Picasso's Guernica, about the German bombing of a Spanish town during the Spanish Civil War. The depiction wasn't "beautiful," but it was certainly artistic.

Closer to home, we have an ongoing censorship dispute. Yesterday, the ProJo's Dan Barbarisi had a good story about Lu Heintz's controversial trash cans, a topic that seems bound to come up during next week's Action Speaks!