The fury of this farce is unparalleled, sucking up huge public resources.
They are going to look really stupid when they lose all the ensuing legal cases, which is the likely outcome according to all the legal opinion I have seen.
Surely it would be better to test the initial case in court before flying into a moral panic that penetrates every art gallery and website.
The futility of this pogrom is obvious. Henson's images are available internationally through a basic Google search, so persecuting Australian sites is pointless. These luddites don't seem to realise what 'www' stands for.
See http://www.artnet.com/artist/8135/bill-henson.html
Or here.
Or here
Or here (read the comments on this one -- the blogger is accused of being a 'homo' for showing them. Just goes to show sexual moralists are the true weirdos)
Or here (see picture 238!) Dunno about 'homos'.
etc etc. I wonder when the thought police might discover my posting of the Blind Faith cover in the post below. Or will the 'Hetty Johnston protection strip' provide immunity from these tiny-minded busybodies? Or can they block every website that has an overseas link?
Or here.
Or here
Or here (read the comments on this one -- the blogger is accused of being a 'homo' for showing them. Just goes to show sexual moralists are the true weirdos)
Or here (see picture 238!) Dunno about 'homos'.
etc etc. I wonder when the thought police might discover my posting of the Blind Faith cover in the post below. Or will the 'Hetty Johnston protection strip' provide immunity from these tiny-minded busybodies? Or can they block every website that has an overseas link?
It's a bit like pushing goatshit up a steep hill with a pointy stick, as my dear old dad once said.
Worth a thousand words...
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaEi9ESRB8o
Oh yeah, I didn't think of Youtube. Even better is this one
ReplyDeletePerhaps Hetty Johnston and Commissioner Scipione should visit China and find out how they are censoring and controlling the web for political purposes. Oh, sorry it's not political, it's moral. Hetty's morals, which MUST BE IMPOSED.
It's a godsend for the embattled Morris Iemma, tho!
Prime Minister also came under fire from Berlin-based theatre producer Barrie Kosky, who called the drama "a scandal beyond scandals".
ReplyDelete"He (Mr Rudd) calls this 2020 conference to talk about vision and openness and invites all the major thinkers and people in Australia to his big party and then his first statement about the arts … is to say that one of Australia's greatest living artists, an internationally recognised artist's work, is repulsive.
"And (Peter) Garrett went into this political diplo-speak and I thought, 'Shame on you.' The Arts Minister should make it very clear … that there is a difference between Bill Henson and a pornographer."
I was disappointed with the Roslyn Oxley Gallery for not (seemingly) fully supporting Bill Henson and his work. And then a couple of regional galleries followed suit including the Albury Regional Gallery whose director removed Henson's work from it's walls on his own accord - just in case.
ReplyDeleteIf art galleries aren't prepared to defend the arists they represent, what future do Australia's artists have?
It is a pity all our galleries aren't headed by directors of the calibre of Ms Macgregor at the MCA....
"The director of the MCA, Elizabeth Ann Macgregor, said she deplored the police's decision to seize Henson's work from the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery, and she would never consider removing his work from her gallery."
Classification Board has given a G rating for
ReplyDeleteHenson images
A G rating. Gee. Yet Hetty Johnston writes in Crickey today that it's a battles between the rights of artists and the rights of children. What about the right of an aware 13-year-old to make a decision for herself openly and with the protection of her parents?
ReplyDeleteIt's more like a battle between artists and small-minded morals campaigners who cannot conceive any healthy mindset outside their own.
Hey why don't you try a google search on
ReplyDeletepol ICE
Pol ICE? I get the official website of the Seattle Police Dept. ??
ReplyDeleteBetter call Hetty-
ReplyDeletehttp://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=573270
Just a bit of irony. Police not pol ice.
ReplyDeletephew
ReplyDeleteCan someone tell me how photographing people on a beach can possibly have legal implications?
ReplyDelete