The New Gatekeepers

Emerging Challenges to Free Expression in the Arts

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Edited by Christopher W. Hawthorne, Mark Schapiro and Andras Szanto

Distributed Art Publishers (DAP)

Due/Published June 2004, 200 pages, paper

ISBN 0974638307

Disputes over free expression in the arts have always loomed as struggles between creativity and repression, transgression and outrage, candor and hypocrisy. But while high-profile shootouts at art museums and less visible skirmishes at schools, libraries, and theaters persist, overt censorship is no longer the only, or the most dire, threat to free expression. On the one hand, society has become more accepting of provocative imagery, with media conglomerates often leading the way in the depreciation of taboos. On the other hand, artists, while enjoying some unprecedented liberties, are hemmed in by new constraints that often fall beyond the range of First Amendment protection. The current terrain bears little resemblance to the culture wars of a decade ago, much less to what the First Amendment's Framers could have imagined. And since Sept. 11, 2001, the frontlines of the free-expression debate have been shifting once again.

Based on a Columbia University conference organized by the National Arts Journalism Program, The New Gatekeepers explores the reconfigured ranks of those who decide what the public gets to see, hear and read, from struggles over intellectual property and copyright, to continuing debates about acceptable and offensive content in the cultural marketplace, to the less visible biases of the arts funding system. This heavily illustrated book also includes a historical overview of censorship and contributions by 40 scholars, artists, experts and journalists from around the United States. Discussed and participating artists include Edouard Manet, Jake and Dinos Chapman, Robert Mapplethorpe, Richard Serra, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Andres Serrano, Carolee Schneemann, Dread Scott, Gran Fury, Joel-Peter Witkin, Kara Walker, Jock Sturges, Chris Ofili, and Tom Sachs. Essays by Essays by Amy Adler, Carol Becker, Louis Menand, Roger Newman, Rochelle Gurstein, Charles Mann, Cass R. Sunstein, among others. 33 color and 32 b & w illustrations.

Review

Censorship and pressure from ideologically-motivated groups, while not as ferocious as they might have been during the height of the “culture wars,” still bear down on artistic expression. However, the presence of new technologies that fundamentally alter ideas about who controls images, texts, and sounds is relatively new to the art world and is raising complex legal and artistic questions. Thus we find ourselves in a situation in which some artists are appropriating images for their own work, while others are demanding tighter controls on copyrights. In 2002, artists, legal scholars, cultural historians, and art administrators met at a conference at Columbia University to discuss the various ways in which social, economic, and technological developments are placing fresh constraints on how art is created and distributed to the public. In addition to exploring the implications of new technologies, the contributors to The New Gatekeepers explore the impact of media company conglomeration, changes in funding practices, and past instances of censorship. This diverse new collection serves an excellent guide to the changing circumstances of artistic expression and the efforts to constrain it.

Essays include: “From Madison to Mapplethorpe and Beyond,” Roger K. Newman; “History Written with Lightning: The NAACP’s Bid To Ban ‘The Birth of a Nation,’ Louis Menand; “The NEA, Arts Funding and the Culture Wars,” Marjorie Heins, Christina Cho, and Kim Commerato; “All Rights Reserved: Public Forums and MYMuseum.com,” Cass R. Sunstein; “The Folly of Defining ‘Serious’ Art,” Amy Adler; “The Artist as Citizen,” Carol Becker; “Broadcast Standards and Practices in the 21st Century,” Olivia Cohen-Cutler; “Funders as Gatekeepers,” Marian A. Godfrey; “A Keen and Baffled Anxiety: One Writer Seeks to Make Sense of Copyright Law,” Charles C. Mann; “Misdeeds and Misperceptions: From the Content-Owner’s Point of View,” Shira Perlmutter; “A Conversation with Lawrence Lessig,” Lawrence Lessig.