Howdy, all.
I'm not sure if you've noticed, if you've ever been on DeviantArt, but it's kind of...um...pornographic. There's a lot of pretty blatant pornography mixed in with the art. I'm sort of embarrassed to post my art on there, because of the whole shame-by-association thing.
Now don't get me wrong; I don't mind a bit of artistic nudity thrown in here and there, especially where it involves black-and-white photography (I am a fan of Man Ray). And I'm not opposed to erotica, where tastefully done (or, on the opposite side, tackily done, because it can be funny and weird and interesting to look at). The human body can be art. I have no problem with that.
But I do have a problem when I go on an art site, and it seems like every tenth image is blatant commercial pornography. And I do mean commercial - the Deviant ID for these images is very obviously a group of paid photographers, co-opting an open art site to peddle their wares. Often these images are barely aesthetic at all, with little sense of artistic intent, and amount to a monotony of airbrushed flesh. It's difficult for me to upload my work on DeviantArt and see it posted next to one of these images, and still feel as though my art is well-represented.
Now, of course, there's the obvious arguments: "Well, Rick, how do you define pornography?" "If you don't like it, don't look at it", "Why don't you post your work on a different site?" "So you're complaining about images you obviously looked at yourself, you hypocrite", etc. and so on ad nauseum. Valid points, all, but distracting from the actual issue. The point I'm trying to make is that DeviantArt - as far as I can see - is supposed to be for artists who would not otherwise have an opportunity to display their art; it is like an online gallery space. The fact that it is crawling with commercial pornographers is therefore unfair to the actual artists utilizing the site. The sleaze not only steals attention from these artists, but also drags down the reputation of the site; if I say, "I have my work posted on DeviantArt", I don't want someone to think, "Oh yeah, that's that sleazy art website." I am of the mind that if pornographers want to display their work, they should find some other site to do it on. DeviantArt should be for legitimate artists displaying legitimate work.
That's my beef with DeviantArt. I don't suppose there's much anybody can do about it, except maybe flag some of the worst offenders. I'm going to keep utilizing the site as a resource to post my work and all. It's just irritating to have to wade through the slime in order to get to the actual, legitimate work.
Going slightly off-topic, here's some DeviantArt humor from our friends at Penny Arcade.
Rick Out.
I'm not sure if you've noticed, if you've ever been on DeviantArt, but it's kind of...um...pornographic. There's a lot of pretty blatant pornography mixed in with the art. I'm sort of embarrassed to post my art on there, because of the whole shame-by-association thing.
Now don't get me wrong; I don't mind a bit of artistic nudity thrown in here and there, especially where it involves black-and-white photography (I am a fan of Man Ray). And I'm not opposed to erotica, where tastefully done (or, on the opposite side, tackily done, because it can be funny and weird and interesting to look at). The human body can be art. I have no problem with that.
But I do have a problem when I go on an art site, and it seems like every tenth image is blatant commercial pornography. And I do mean commercial - the Deviant ID for these images is very obviously a group of paid photographers, co-opting an open art site to peddle their wares. Often these images are barely aesthetic at all, with little sense of artistic intent, and amount to a monotony of airbrushed flesh. It's difficult for me to upload my work on DeviantArt and see it posted next to one of these images, and still feel as though my art is well-represented.
Now, of course, there's the obvious arguments: "Well, Rick, how do you define pornography?" "If you don't like it, don't look at it", "Why don't you post your work on a different site?" "So you're complaining about images you obviously looked at yourself, you hypocrite", etc. and so on ad nauseum. Valid points, all, but distracting from the actual issue. The point I'm trying to make is that DeviantArt - as far as I can see - is supposed to be for artists who would not otherwise have an opportunity to display their art; it is like an online gallery space. The fact that it is crawling with commercial pornographers is therefore unfair to the actual artists utilizing the site. The sleaze not only steals attention from these artists, but also drags down the reputation of the site; if I say, "I have my work posted on DeviantArt", I don't want someone to think, "Oh yeah, that's that sleazy art website." I am of the mind that if pornographers want to display their work, they should find some other site to do it on. DeviantArt should be for legitimate artists displaying legitimate work.
That's my beef with DeviantArt. I don't suppose there's much anybody can do about it, except maybe flag some of the worst offenders. I'm going to keep utilizing the site as a resource to post my work and all. It's just irritating to have to wade through the slime in order to get to the actual, legitimate work.
Going slightly off-topic, here's some DeviantArt humor from our friends at Penny Arcade.
Rick Out.
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