The Prime Minister, federal Opposition Leader, parents, school groups say they are outraged at news a primary school principal let controversial artist Bill Henson scour the playground for child models.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said he would be disgusted if a principal had let controversial photographer Bill Henson into a primary school to search for suitable subjects for his controversial artwork.
"If the report is accurate, I am disgusted by it," Mr Rudd told reporters in Sydney today.
"I think parents would be revolted and horrified if this were true."
I too am outraged that a photographer sought to find models to photograph. Likewise I am outraged that Mechanics like to look at cars (thats weird right?) and the proctologist really does want to look at your butt.
There is of course a process issue there, but every single person who drives a car by the side of a school sees exactly the same, and had Henson gone to the school without first getting the principals permission, people would have been outraged and wondered if he was a a pedophile. But do it formally and for art, and somehow again everyone is outraged. If the police dont think he has a case to argue, and even the family of the child are still 'strong supporters' of Henson's, can we all stop pretending we have a role in this issue.
No one has been harmed in this case, the government and our politicians has no role to play here.
3 comments:
Cheers for that link. I only grazed on a couple articles regarding the case, but smh has a pretty good video up that gives a broad timeline of events.
From the first I heard of it I suspected a fair whack of vindictiveness on the part of those accusing him, as in contemporary western society the charge of paedophilia can leave a stigma like nothing else regardless of whether one is cleared of charges or not. And yet, there is rarely a case in which the accusers have to pay damages for slander, and if there is such a case, my guess is that the media would most likely spin it to make it seem like a dodgy trial.
That Henson did everything by the book here, and it was still spun in a negative light and commented on by the prime minister (though the fact that outside of the economy, stories like this seem to be the big news under the "Australia" heading at the moment leads me to believe that things must be reasonably smooth sailing back in the motherland), serves to confirm my position.
If the man had been, say, a minor (or major, as Henson's hardly an unknown player in his field) politician, out to bond with his constituents by taking a tour of the local primary school, how would people react? It's precisely the same activity, with just as much potential harm. Even a visiting school board member could be a paedophile.
And as to Rudd's initial outrage comment, which I only just came across—"kids" aren't "just kids" any more that "adults" are ever "just adults". His thinking is surprisingly simplistic and kneejerk, with very unfortunate consequences for, as that smh reporter noted, one of "Australia's foremost photographer"s.
If the man had been, say, a minor (or major, as Henson's hardly an unknown player in his field) politician, out to bond with his constituents by taking a tour of the local primary school, how would people react?
ROFL, great point. Most politicians visit schools at least every fortnight. Almost all old men wandering around, hugging kids, giving high fives.
Its got to make any future artist slightly worried, or at least concerned never to work with children in any material. Guess we should also remove all those biblical paintings of naked baby jesus or boy cherubs too...
(Hmm Wikipedia informs me that those winged babies are actually Putto's, not cherubs. Learn something everyday...
Huh, there you go. I always thought the two terms were interchangeable.
As ridiculous as it sounds, I can see this kind of scaremongering leading to a ratings advisory board for art museums. That would be a sad sad day, with “adult’s only” sections of the gallery and artists playing the banned card to raise publicity. The shock art thing happens enough already without politicians adding fuel to the fire.
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