kristin hatland

“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description (hard core pornography): and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that”. Justice Potter Stewart, concurring opinion in Jacobellis Vs. Ohio 1964, regarding possible obscenity in “The Lovers”. The quote from Justice Potter conveys the position of the Law at that particular moment. To better understand this position, I have undertaken a brief study in the origins of the Law, and how the Law has evolved. Once again, I find that this has moved my studies into the history of Philosophy. The Law that we have today, took origin from Aristotle’s Natural Law theories. Therefore I have tracked the evolution of the Law, through the ages to the present. It is under the Law, whatever system that has predominated at the time, that has been the limiting factor for artists working with the nude. The truth of this assertion, being bourne out in Justice Potter, who, essentially refusing to provide a definition, provided a catch-all, “I’ll know it when I see it”. Today, definitions are far tighter in the Law. Interestingly, the definitions have been created within Statutory Law. The Law of the State. The definitions have not been created through the evolution of Common Law (law of the people). I mention this as it ties very closely with my (ever evolving) definition of art, which, in the creation of art by artists, will reflect their values. The term “values” implies the influence of a moral base and Ethics. Democritas, asserted that Moral values and Ethics were absolute. This assertion, drawn as it was from Aristotlian Natural Law has been inconsistent through the ages and development of the Law, and certainly found it’s apogee in Justice Potter, who essentially stated, It is what I say it is. Photographs depicting the nude in a manner that is not pornographic, but rather feminine discussing the patriarchal vs. the matriarchal gaze attempting to uncover possible bias that often seem to present itself when the subject matter is nudity. A series of photographs, which starting point is the matriarchal society that existed when Venus of Willendorf was created, however starting my photographic series with the Birth of Venus, painted during the earlier part of the Renaissance, jumping to the contemporary Venus and finally my own feminine gaze that includes the political and legal environments. In doing so, I have as an artist, taken my values as my starting point, and through the creative process, sought to translate these values into an artwork that communicates these values to the viewer. In doing so, of course my values will fall under the gaze of the state, who, through their legal definitions will seek to pass a moral/legal verdict on my work, essentially echoing Justice Potter: we (the state), will know it when we see it.