On Beauty. And Goths.

Over at Orphans of Conservatism Liberty, James Higham has been considering art and aesthetics. And he offers some thoughts on females and alternative fashion:

The sight of ugly goth girls with nosebones and tatts trying to do steampunk is an utter travesty. and yet intrinisically, in terms of the outer form G-d gave them, those lasses could be so beautiful. Why are they trying to be ugly? How are they so under the spell of the dark side that they could wallow in this pit of ordure? How are they so pig-ignorant, so harsh of cackle, so witch-like? What a mockery of the supposed beauty of youth.

Now, neither James nor anyone other than the actual girls concerned can truly say why they choose to adopt the goth subculture. It is perfectly possible that they choose these apparently controversial "nosebones and tatts" for numerous reasons - to fit in with the goth subculture, to provoke reactions, to assert an identity different from the ones they were raised with. Y'know, alternative culture as a form of protest (and thus an important part of growing up for some people). Nothing to do with the dark side or being pig-ignorant, or witchlike.

Likewise with art. It is simply not a case of representing beautiful things in a beautiful way. It can be about being provocative, about challenging people, about getting a debate going. Two of the most striking art exhibitions I have seen at the Chapman brothers' "What if Hitler was a Hippy?" and one of Francis Bacon's work (including the notorious Screaming Popes) - and neither of those could really be described as beautiful despite being highly effective art.

But there is another possibilty: it is more than possible that the "ugly goth girls" aren't "trying to be ugly". In fact, it could be that these girls (and the men in the goth subculture) see these piercings and tattoos as ways of enhancing their beauty. It is just that their view of what is beautiful is different to that of the Christian conservative James Higham. That's fine; that's a question of opinion. What I cannot justify is why one conception of beauty should trump another, which is precisely what Higham seems to be suggesting with the his vision of beauty good/their vision of beauty bad. Why should James' opinion trump alternative views? Answers on a postcard please, because in a pluralistic free society I can't think of any meaningful reason.

Art and Freedom

I was in the Tate Britian yesterday and by far the standout exhibit is Mark Wallinger's State Britain. It is a supposed exact reproduction of Brian Haw's protest in Parliament Square - at least until the police came and took most of the placards away. I am not sure whether it is art, but it is certainly striking.

However when we were there we saw a man sitting by the wall. Owing to our highly attuned powers of deduction we realised it was Brian Haw himself (we recognised the hat), either taking a break from protesting or enjoying a little nostalgia. Surreal itself, but nothing compared to what followed.

In the corner of the hall that houses State Britain there are a couple of boxes that seem to contain various activities for kids to get them interested in art. A trio of teenagers had used these activity areas to create their own barriers and, as both Haw and our good selves watched, they proceed to try to add their banners ("Please give more money to our school" was one example) to the exhibit. Only to be stopped by a Tate official.

The complex levels of irony involved in the scene hurt my head, quite frankly. You have an exhibit that is an artistic reproduction of a protest that evolved over many years, basically through people adding their banners. You have a trio of kids getting into the spirit of things, and trying to expand the protest by adding their banners only to be stopped by an official representing the organisation that displays this evolutionary protest as a work of art. And all of this is witnessed by the man who inspired this work of art through protesting about, amongst other things, freedom of expression.

Quite what to make of it all I don't know. But thinking about it too much makes my eyes cross slightly...