2008 Woodie Awards
Vote Absentee
Student's photography center of controversy
Michael Gagne
Issue date: 4/22/03 Section: Campus
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The four-part untitled silver gelatin print series, suspended at angles from the ceiling in the art department wing of the building, depicts a man masturbating against a backdrop of gay pornography. The work, produced by junior studio art major Sean Johnson, has drawn praise, criticism and outright hatred.
Johnson, who is concentrating on photography, said the point of displaying the piece was to generate discussion, and gather information, and gauge how accepted homosexuality is on campus.
It's less about the actual artwork itself, and more about the feedback students and faculty members leave in the mural board he said.
"The point is for people to write comments," Johnson said. "Of course, you're going to get hate, you're going to get praise. It's just a gathering of information."
The feedback is mixed. And some of it attacks Johnson, instead of the artwork.
One student, impressed by the work, wrote: "Ballsy... literally."
Others found the murals offensive and commented. "The statue of David is art, this is porno; I don't want to see your dick."
Other messages resembled restroom stall graffiti. "I think I saw those pictures the other day, at www.asspackers.com," one said.
Exploring human sexuality is widespread in the visual arts, the exhibit's curators said.
"It's not uncommon subject matter," said co-curator Cat Ganim, referring to artists like painter Georgia O'Keefe and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
Subject matter aside, Johnson's exhibit was expensive and time-consuming to produce. Each photo, roughly 40-by-32 inches, took more than an hour to develop and cost more than $30, Johnson said. The moralizing process produced a smoky quality in each image. And how the images were angled when hung from the ceiling was also important.
Johnson, who has explored male sexuality in previous works, said his instructors "are really supportive."
"My teachers know my work," he said.