On 3/17/2014 6:49 PM, bearophile wrote:
Nick Sabalausky:
That categorizational difficulty only exists because "porn" and
"erotic art" realistically *are* the same thing, the only difference
is the speaker's positive/negative spin and the compulsion of certain
factions in the art world to feel ethically insulated from the works
of the less "artsy" factions.
Despite them being not always easy to tell apart, it doesn't mean they
are the same thing. In your brain there are several different subsystems
designed for different purposes, and "porn" and "erotic art" don't
stimulate the same areas, despite they have some common traits. This can
even be measured experimentally with brain imaging since many years.
That doesn't imply there's an inherent difference, only that most people
interpret a difference. In both cases, it's a visual stimulus (ie "art",
as if "art" even had a real definition at all) that's erotically-themed.
I think it's entirely reasonable to argue that the differences in brain
activity relate more to whether an individual person subconsciously (or
consciously) chooses to view a piece for artistic purposes or
for...other...purposes.
It's not at all difficult see that a single work, whether "porn" or
"erotic art", can easily lead two different viewers, or even *be* led by
the viewers themselves, to *either* mental reaction. This very strongly
suggests that the distinction has little to do with the work itself.
Furthermore, it could easily be argued (and I suspect many would) that
burring, if not destroying, the lines between "sexual" and "respectable"
is a major part of the whole point behind "erotic art". Interesting to
note, then, how closely this parallels the increasingly mainstream
acceptance of porn. That sounds to me like very strong evidence that
we're not examining two different things at all, but rather looking at
one-and-the-same thing from two different vantage points and *choosing*
to interpret them differently (and yes, interpreting something
differently is naturally going to manifest as a difference in brain
activity).
