Ethical issues in the practice of art.

Whilst practising art these are some of the ethical issues that I have either been made aware of or have encounter whilst making my work. The major ethical issues I can think of all seams to steam from subject and material.

Materials:

 There has been much controversy over Marc Quinn’s sculpture ‘Self’ which is made of nine pints of his own frozen blood, a material which is commonly used by performance artists, but is it ethically acceptable to use bodily fluids as a material. Artists such as Jana Sterbak when she created ‘Flesh Dress’ or Dr Günter Von Hagen’s ‘Body Worlds’ exhibitions encountered similar problems.  Dr Von Hagen has actually been arrested on a number of occasions because of the materials he uses to create his pieces. If anybody is unfamiliar with his work, he uses corpses that have been donated for the development of science.   Bodily fluids and rotting meat have not been the only issues; Quinn’s work was in question again when he unveiled his gold sculpture of Kate Moss in 2008. May people questioned if it was right for him to create a sculpture which cost £1.5 million when the country is in a recession? In my inquiry I plan to try and encourage people to use unconventional materials in new ways and thus will have to think about all of these ethical issues very carefully.

 At CSM, when making work we were always encouraged to think about the sustainability of our pieces. How would the production/ creation of them impact the environment? Were there any ways that the piece could be made more environmentally friendly?

Subject:

The reader uses a good example, the Pulitzer winning photographer.  Should you intervene with your subject?  The Fashion industry struggles with this constantly, as a model if you are very thin then you will get work but where is the line between very thin and emaciated? As a designer/ photographer/ make-up artist is it your place to intervene when you are aware that if she were to put on weight she might loose work but if she didn’t she might make herself very ill.

Lucian Freud was often criticised for painting his daughters in a way that many deemed unacceptable, in his defence he didn’t paint them until they were adults and he claims that he uses the process of painting people to get to know them better.  So is it really unethical? One does have to be very careful when choosing a subject matter in particular when you are using human subjects.

Code of Practice for an Artist:

Each artist will come up with their own code of practice depending upon what setting they are working within but general guidelines to follow may include:

·        Having an understanding and sensitivity toward your subject.

·        Work in a professional manor

·        Try not to work in a vacuum, be aware of what other artist are doing.

·        Be accountable to your employer/ client.

·        Have an understanding of current political, economical and social activity.

·        To have patience.

·        To have an understanding of and sensitivity towards all cultures and religions.