Failing at Art

We need art that is provocative. We need it to explore contradictory emotions, and come to grips with the fact that beautiful things can be twisted. Gold can symbolize beauty, or greed. Blood can symbolize life, or violence. Sex, love or lust. A woman's body can inspire appreciation, passion, or possession.

Art can express how a person can mean everything to us when we fall in love: "The first time ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes/ the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave..." (Roberta Flack, singing "The First Time Ever I saw Your Face") But it might also sometimes remind us to step back, and make sure our love is being reciprocated. Otherwise, our love can turn to desperation, and be turned against us. Love can be a big risk, because it opens us to being exploited.

I thought that was what the Flaming Lips and Erykah and Nayrok Badu were doing with their video for the above song. It turns out, it may have been what the Flaming Lips were doing, but Ms. Badu did not agree to releasing the video in that form. That is a big problem. The video in question shows a very naked woman, apparently covered with gold, then blood, then semen. It could obviously be viewed as exploitative. It could also potentially be art. A necessary condition for the video to be art is that it be done intentionally. The creators must participate willingly in the entire process. That apparently did not happen at the editing phase of the video, so in this case the Flaming Lips failed at art. To their credit, they have taken it down from wherever they can (which is why I don't link it here).

Still, this is not a little thing. It is entwined in a broader societal issue. A woman must have control over her body. We mostly think about this in the physical realm. However, it extends to how her body is viewed, because visual and physical stimulation are so intimately related. The first rule of the Internet must be, Make sure the owner of the naked body agrees before you upload the video.