In recent weeks, Auraria Higher Education Centers botched handling of a confrontation over an art piece containing adult content has been seething within the Arts Building. But now, accusastions of censorship have caused the controversy to boil over.
A mixed media piece of art titled Garbage Vagina was put up on one of the Post Artwork Here wallsnow the Post Approved Artwork Here wallsin the Arts Building as an attempt by artist Estee Fox to be a part of the showcasing of artwork students on campus can create.
It was a serious subject that I was painting, but it was my own personal expression, said Fox, a Metro junior seeking a BFA with an emphasis in painting. Garbage Vagina depicts a blacked out face on a body with garbage discharging from female genitalia, which holds artistic meaning open for interpretation beyond its initial adult content.
A Metro club got all the administrations to approve of putting up boards for students to elect to hang up their own artwork whenever they wanted without ever going through anybody, said Fox. So that is when I put it up.
Shortly after Fox put up her piece, some students took it into their own hands to censor Foxs artwork. The first attempt by a student involved ripping down Garbage Vagina and leaving a message on the back reading, Not here. People bring their innocent children into this building. Show some fucking courtesy.
In a second effort to remove the piece, another student posted a page long letter near the artwork expressing how the piece offended the student and that Garbage Vagina should be put in an area where people can choose to view it instead of in a public hallway. However, the Post Artwork Here walls were originally intended to be an area designated with the intent to showcase student artwork away from the public.
In the third censorship attempt, a student stabbed a several paged manifesto with a large flip-out knife onto Garbage Vagina covering the woman, shocking Fox at the way it had escalated to an angry threat instead of a civilized attempt to send a message about their objection. The first page read, While the First Amendment guarantees the unhindered expression of creativity, it does not guarantee that expressions validity, quality, or gravitas.
Censorship to me isnt about intimidation. Its about expressing your opinionand an opposing opinionand trying to work to control that together to come to an agreement, as opposed to threatening, said Michael Brohman senior instructor of sculpture at CU Denver. What happened with Estee is more of a threat with a knife. Threat and intimidation as opposed to a planned out sit-down-and-talk your differences over.
Subsequently, Fox filed a BETA report and police report, only to find that no one from administration contacted her during or after the occurrence. A few weeks later, Fox decided to take down Garbage Vagina herself.
The Institute for Womens Studies and Services approached me and asked me to hang it up in their gallery, so we put the painting back up in their building, said Fox. Then we had a brown bag discussion, so I invited people to come and talk to me about the issues and censorship and the painting. The conversation that was happening around it was really good and healthy.
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Art censorship stifles speech