WEBVTT - Jesus P. Christ, Art Made Of...Pee?

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<v Speaker 1>School of Humans. Today, we're starting the show with a

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<v Speaker 1>churning vat of pists. That's right, philth Head's piss. It's

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<v Speaker 1>foemen at the top, swirling and swishing. The color of

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<v Speaker 1>a crisp pale ale just poured from the tap, which

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<v Speaker 1>is not a healthy color for your piss to be.

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<v Speaker 1>Whoever pissed this piss was extremely dehydrated. Was it me?

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<v Speaker 1>Could have been? I only drink a spoonful of water

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<v Speaker 1>every day. I am perpetually dehydrated to prepare myself for

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<v Speaker 1>the water wars to come. I don't even need water.

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<v Speaker 1>But actually, no, it's not my piss. This piss belongs

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<v Speaker 1>to Andres Serrano. He's a photographer and heat into this

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<v Speaker 1>vat of piss to make what some people would call art.

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<v Speaker 1>But don't worry, it's not just a vat of piss. No. Indeed,

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<v Speaker 1>submerged inside of it, floating amid the bubbles, bobbing in

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<v Speaker 1>the brine is a small white, plastic and wood figurine

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<v Speaker 1>of Jesus on the crucifix. Serrano set this scene up

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<v Speaker 1>and sometime in the nineteen eighties snapped a photograph of

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<v Speaker 1>this crucifix suspended in his urine. And now, if you

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<v Speaker 1>saw this photograph in the gallery just willy nilly, you

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<v Speaker 1>might not even know that it was necessarily in piss.

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<v Speaker 1>But don't worry. Serrano titles the piece very explicitly. It's

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<v Speaker 1>called immersion parentheses piss Christ for yes, indeed, the Christ

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<v Speaker 1>is immersed in piss. And while this image, if you

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<v Speaker 1>can imagine, really piss some people off, but I'm kissed.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right. Today we're talking about the arts, and specifically

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<v Speaker 1>artists who use bodily fluids in other matter aka feces

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<v Speaker 1>and their work and how people really hated that shit.

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<v Speaker 1>But don't kiss sorry. Cue the beautiful theme song. This

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<v Speaker 1>is American Filth. I'm your host, Gabby Watts. Each week

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<v Speaker 1>I tell you a filthy story from American history. This

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<v Speaker 1>week's episode Jesus p Christ. The pea stands for piss.

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<v Speaker 1>I will say as a precursor to this episode, I

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<v Speaker 1>am very skeptical of all fine arts because my sister

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<v Speaker 1>is a fine arts photographer and also performance art, and

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<v Speaker 1>I've seen too many performance art pieces to really take

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<v Speaker 1>it seriously. Okay, if you guys an't know what performance

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<v Speaker 1>art is, it's very similar to the experience of when

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<v Speaker 1>a child is like, oh I made a play, come

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<v Speaker 1>watch it, and you watch it and there's no story,

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<v Speaker 1>and really, wear's the razzle dazzle. Oh that's it. Okay, anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>that's what it's like. But I'm going to try to

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<v Speaker 1>be really intellectual about this and really take it all

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<v Speaker 1>very seriously. So let me try to get into my

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<v Speaker 1>intellectual artist's voice. M Andres Serrano, what's coming up in

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<v Speaker 1>the art world in New York City in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighty I'm just kidding. I'm not going to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>So Andre Serrano, he was coming up in the art

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<v Speaker 1>world in New York City. He was finally getting some

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<v Speaker 1>notoriety in the nineteen eighties. At the time, New York

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<v Speaker 1>City was racous and dirty, some might even say filthy,

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<v Speaker 1>and filled to the rim with artists questioning the status quo.

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<v Speaker 1>There's a lot of cool things going on. Andy Warhol's

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<v Speaker 1>studio aka the Factory was where all the cool kids

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<v Speaker 1>would hang out. Lou Reid and the Vellet Underground, Debbie

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<v Speaker 1>Harry of Blondie, everyone who was Nito Burrito, and Andre Serrano.

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<v Speaker 1>He wasn't the only one who was using piss and

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<v Speaker 1>other bodily fluids in his art. Andy Warhol himself in

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<v Speaker 1>the late seventies released a series of images called Oxidation,

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<v Speaker 1>Piss and Come, where he basically spread copper on canvas

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<v Speaker 1>and then had his assistance piss and or come on

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<v Speaker 1>said canvas. Sometimes they were just pissing and coming right

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<v Speaker 1>on the canvas. Other times Warhol would dribble the substance

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<v Speaker 1>where he wanted it to be on the canvas. And

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<v Speaker 1>also these assistants, all of them were people who he

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<v Speaker 1>hired from the local gay bathhouses. One of Warhol's favorites

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<v Speaker 1>was his friend Ronnie Catrone because, quote, he takes a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of Vitamin B, so the canvas turns a really

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<v Speaker 1>pretty color when it's his piss end quote. Art is profound.

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<v Speaker 1>Now let's cue some music where I can do a

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<v Speaker 1>little art critique. Okay, let's take a moment to reflect

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<v Speaker 1>on the meaning of Andy Warhol's Piss and Come work.

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<v Speaker 1>I think the meaning is that sometimes you be pissing

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<v Speaker 1>and sometimes you be common. I'm a philosopher. Another artist

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<v Speaker 1>using bodily fluids was the great Cuban artist Anna Mendieta.

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<v Speaker 1>She made art with blood and yes, of course sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>she used period blood. That's the whole point of having

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<v Speaker 1>a period, though less exciting like sometimes she would just

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<v Speaker 1>use blood from her veins and other times just corn

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<v Speaker 1>syrups staged in a public place to look like blood.

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<v Speaker 1>Like in one of her works from the nineteen seventies,

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<v Speaker 1>she created an enormous puddle of blood just soaking the sidewalk.

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<v Speaker 1>It looks like it's floating out of a white door,

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<v Speaker 1>pulling on the concrete before running down into the gutter.

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<v Speaker 1>And the whole point of it was to be like,

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<v Speaker 1>how are people going to respond to this blood on

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<v Speaker 1>the sidewalk? Many people just walked right past it, distracted

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<v Speaker 1>or simply unfazed. Some got curious about it and poked

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<v Speaker 1>the blood before moving on. Anna and her sister sat

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<v Speaker 1>in a car across the street, watching until finally a

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<v Speaker 1>shop owner emerges from the next door and sprays down

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<v Speaker 1>the sidewalk with a hose, mopping the blood into the gutter,

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<v Speaker 1>destroying all evidence of what might have happened there. But

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<v Speaker 1>isn't that the h rustle and grind. It's just another

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<v Speaker 1>day on the job mopping away all this blood on

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<v Speaker 1>the sidewalk. And now back to Serrano, who made piss Christ.

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<v Speaker 1>Piss Christ wasn't his first piece at the intersection of

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<v Speaker 1>Christianity and bodily fluids. In nineteen eighty five, two years

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<v Speaker 1>before piss Christ was exhibited, he made a piece called

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<v Speaker 1>Blood Cross. It's a photograph of a cross made out

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<v Speaker 1>of plexiglass and it's filled to the brim with cow's blood. Wow.

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<v Speaker 1>He's so good at giving precise titles to his work.

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<v Speaker 1>Because it was blood in a cross. Crazy. Also, there

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<v Speaker 1>was so much blood inside of it. It looked like

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<v Speaker 1>it was like leaking blood. And it appeared in a

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<v Speaker 1>series he made called Fluids. Because that's not all. He

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<v Speaker 1>also exhibited an aptly named print called Milk and Blood

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<v Speaker 1>because it is in fact made of milk and blood

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<v Speaker 1>in piss Christ. It was also part of a larger

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<v Speaker 1>series exhibited in nineteen eighty seven. Not only was Christ

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<v Speaker 1>submerged in urine, he also had some photographs of other

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<v Speaker 1>religious figurines submerged in his other favorite fluids like blood, seamen,

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<v Speaker 1>and milk. Honestly, flem, sweat, and bile probably felt pretty

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<v Speaker 1>left out. But despite this vast collection of fluid works,

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<v Speaker 1>it's piss Christ that set off behaters. What happened was

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<v Speaker 1>that Piss Christ was exhibited at the Southern Center for

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<v Speaker 1>Contemporary Art in Winston Salem, North Carolina, and there it

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<v Speaker 1>won the Visual Arts Competition, which meant that he won

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<v Speaker 1>a fifteen thousand dollars cash prize from the National Endowment

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<v Speaker 1>for the Arts the NAA, and the NEA is a

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<v Speaker 1>government agency, so the grant tech was funded by American

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<v Speaker 1>tax dollars. The American Family Association, originally called the National

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<v Speaker 1>Federation for Decency, formed in nineteen seventy seven, was an

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<v Speaker 1>organization that was still getting its sea legs and latched

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<v Speaker 1>onto these artists like Serrano who were making seemingly blasphemous arts.

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<v Speaker 1>They're like, we don't want our tax dollars going to

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<v Speaker 1>piss art. That is so anti Christian. Reverend Donald Wildman,

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<v Speaker 1>founder of the Mississippi Chapter, complained he held a goddang

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<v Speaker 1>press conference to yell about works like Piss Christ. He said, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>this is anti Christian bigotry. And this is kind of

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<v Speaker 1>interesting because Serrano actually identifies as a Christian and said

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<v Speaker 1>this about his work in a Vice article, quote I

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<v Speaker 1>had no idea Pis Christ would get the attention it did,

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<v Speaker 1>since I meant either blasphemy nor offense by it. I've

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<v Speaker 1>been a Catholic all my life, so I am a

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<v Speaker 1>follower of Christ. But I'm an artist, and the role

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<v Speaker 1>of the artist is to break new ground for himself

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<v Speaker 1>and for his audience. End quote right right, right, right,

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<v Speaker 1>right right. I'm sure he had no idea that submerging

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<v Speaker 1>a crucifix in urine would make anyone mad? How could it? Anyway,

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<v Speaker 1>back to Reverend Donald Wildman. His complaints ended up making

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<v Speaker 1>it to the Senate floor, and six senators publicly denounced

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<v Speaker 1>Serrano's work. Al Demato, a Republican senator from New York,

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<v Speaker 1>was one of the people who hopped on the bandwagon

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<v Speaker 1>against Serrano's work. He made a little speech about it

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<v Speaker 1>on the Senate floor, and he said, what a disgrace

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<v Speaker 1>multiple times. Here's some of the stuff he was saying

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<v Speaker 1>about the complaints he's been getting about Pissed Christ and

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<v Speaker 1>other pieces of art. Quote. They said, how dare you

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<v Speaker 1>spend our taxpayer's money on this trash? They all objected

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<v Speaker 1>to taxpayers money being used for a piece of so

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<v Speaker 1>called artwork, which, to be quite candid, I am somewhat

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<v Speaker 1>reluctant to utter its title. This so called piece of

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<v Speaker 1>art is a deplorable, despicable display vulgarity. If this is

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<v Speaker 1>what contemporary art has sunk to this level, this outrage,

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<v Speaker 1>this indignity. Some may want to sanction that, and that

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<v Speaker 1>is fine, but not with the use of taxpayers money.

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<v Speaker 1>This is not a question of free speech. This is

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<v Speaker 1>a question of abuse of taxpayers money. Taxpayer's money. Another

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<v Speaker 1>senator objecting to the art was Jesse Helms of North Carolina.

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<v Speaker 1>He notably opposed civil rights, disability rights, environmentalism, feminism, gate rights,

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<v Speaker 1>affirmative action, access to abortion, and he saw the NEA

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<v Speaker 1>as a proponent of all those things. He said about Serrano, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>I do not know miss s Andres Serrano, and I

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<v Speaker 1>hope I never meet him, because he is not an artist.

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<v Speaker 1>He is a jerk. Let us examine exactly what this

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<v Speaker 1>bird did to get fifteen thousand dollars of the taxpayer's

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<v Speaker 1>money through the so called National Endowment for the Arts.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's literally what's called so I don't know

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<v Speaker 1>why I said so called. If they have no more

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<v Speaker 1>judgment than that, it ought to be abolished and all

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<v Speaker 1>funds returned to the taxpayer. What this Serrano fellow did.

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<v Speaker 1>He filled a bottle with his own urine and then

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<v Speaker 1>stuck a crucifix down there, Jesus Christ on a cross.

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<v Speaker 1>He set it up on a table and took a

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<v Speaker 1>picture of it. For that, the National Endowment for the

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<v Speaker 1>Arts gave him fifteen thousand dollars to honor him as

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<v Speaker 1>an artist. I say again, he is not an artist.

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<v Speaker 1>He is a jerk, and he is taunting the American

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<v Speaker 1>people just as others are in terms of Christianity. And

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<v Speaker 1>I resent that. And I do not hesitate test A,

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<v Speaker 1>soh yuall, don't hesitate, Senator Helms go on. By the

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<v Speaker 1>end of the eighties, piss Christ wasn't the only piece

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<v Speaker 1>of art rufflin' some big conservative feathers. It was just

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<v Speaker 1>one part of a larger culture war, because there were

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<v Speaker 1>plenty of other artists not only using pists in Christ

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<v Speaker 1>in their works, but also gays and sex. Oh God,

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<v Speaker 1>more on that after the break. Now, I understand that

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<v Speaker 1>doing a history podcast that is set in the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>eighties might be an insult to some of you people

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<v Speaker 1>who were like born in the eighties. I mean, I

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<v Speaker 1>was born in like ninety one. Don't tell Hollywood that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm only eighteen. But it's still history. Your life is history.

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<v Speaker 1>I know that's sad, that's depressing, but you're all as fuck.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry about that. So yeah, back to the eighties.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the most important artists of the nineteen eighties

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<v Speaker 1>in New York was photographer Robert Maplethorpe. Maplethorpe attended the

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<v Speaker 1>Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, where he met and dated the

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<v Speaker 1>great Patty Smith. Eventually they moved into a room at

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<v Speaker 1>the Chelsea Hotel, where a staggering amount of artists resided

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<v Speaker 1>like Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Milos Foreman, Stanley Kubrig, Jim Morrison,

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<v Speaker 1>Iggy Pop, Leonard Cohen. Robert began photographing his large network

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<v Speaker 1>of artists friends and eventually started dating only men. He

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<v Speaker 1>and Patty remained great friends, though, and he also happened

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<v Speaker 1>to be into some very kinky shit and often found

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<v Speaker 1>himself at the Mine Shaft club in the Meatpacking District.

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<v Speaker 1>And oh boy, were they back in some meat. Mine

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<v Speaker 1>Shaft was an underground gay BDSM club that opened in

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<v Speaker 1>late seventies and would only operate for eight years or so.

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<v Speaker 1>The building was unmarked. The entrance of the club lay

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<v Speaker 1>behind a grimy, industrial metal door that could only be

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<v Speaker 1>opened from the inside. Patrons had to climb a flight

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<v Speaker 1>of stairs and pass a bouncer who would turn away

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<v Speaker 1>anyone who wore cologne or looked too preppy. The place

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<v Speaker 1>was initially one story, complete with a scat room. Yep,

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<v Speaker 1>that's a room where you could indulge and arousal from

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<v Speaker 1>feces if that was your thing. This particular room, though,

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<v Speaker 1>was short lived because it got pretty unsanitary. I wonder why.

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<v Speaker 1>Eventually the club expanded and they had all sorts of

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<v Speaker 1>activities you could do there. They had different sort of

0:15:47.925 --> 0:15:50.805
<v Speaker 1>sets in stages, you know, things that like jail cells,

0:15:50.845 --> 0:15:53.125
<v Speaker 1>the back of a truck, dungeons, and then there was

0:15:53.165 --> 0:15:56.685
<v Speaker 1>a room that was completely dark save for some bathtubs

0:15:56.725 --> 0:15:59.965
<v Speaker 1>that were just flooded in spotlights. Well what happened there

0:16:00.005 --> 0:16:02.085
<v Speaker 1>is men would sit in them and then the other

0:16:02.205 --> 0:16:07.525
<v Speaker 1>dudes around them would just piss on them. So yeah,

0:16:07.605 --> 0:16:11.645
<v Speaker 1>they had everything, slings and swings, glory holes, tubs of

0:16:11.685 --> 0:16:14.925
<v Speaker 1>crisco all around. Chrisco was a popular choice before the

0:16:14.965 --> 0:16:19.325
<v Speaker 1>advent of personal lubricants. Basically, it was a frickin' good

0:16:19.365 --> 0:16:23.405
<v Speaker 1>time and Robert Maplethorp was inspired. He would bring men

0:16:23.485 --> 0:16:28.205
<v Speaker 1>home from his nightly sex capades and photograph them, sometimes

0:16:28.245 --> 0:16:32.325
<v Speaker 1>just simple nudes, and other times in various sexual scenes.

0:16:34.405 --> 0:16:37.405
<v Speaker 1>In one of Robert Mablethorpe's self portraits, he stands with

0:16:37.445 --> 0:16:39.805
<v Speaker 1>his back to the camera in a leather vest and

0:16:39.885 --> 0:16:43.245
<v Speaker 1>assless leather chaps and boots. His left foot is up

0:16:43.245 --> 0:16:46.325
<v Speaker 1>on a pedestal and he's hunched over as his right

0:16:46.365 --> 0:16:49.125
<v Speaker 1>hand reaches around grabbing a handle of a bull whip

0:16:49.525 --> 0:16:52.525
<v Speaker 1>that is being pulled out of his asshole. Ow wow

0:16:52.565 --> 0:16:57.005
<v Speaker 1>wow wow wow wow. Of course, lays through this era

0:16:57.085 --> 0:17:00.525
<v Speaker 1>of sexual liberation was the dark shadow of an epidemic.

0:17:00.965 --> 0:17:03.645
<v Speaker 1>The outbreak of AIDS in nineteen eighty one would wreak

0:17:03.685 --> 0:17:06.285
<v Speaker 1>havoc on the United States. While so many people were

0:17:06.325 --> 0:17:10.365
<v Speaker 1>dying across the country, the Reagan administration was doing nothing,

0:17:10.965 --> 0:17:14.845
<v Speaker 1>in fact, just making it worse. In the eighties, Reagan

0:17:14.885 --> 0:17:19.005
<v Speaker 1>made major budget cuts to national health organizations, including the CDC.

0:17:20.205 --> 0:17:23.325
<v Speaker 1>Reagan didn't even utter the word AIDS until nineteen eighty five,

0:17:23.725 --> 0:17:27.205
<v Speaker 1>and didn't acknowledge its severity until nineteen eighty seven, when

0:17:27.205 --> 0:17:32.965
<v Speaker 1>the death toll had already surpassed twenty thousand people. Robert

0:17:32.965 --> 0:17:36.445
<v Speaker 1>Maplethorpe was diagnosed with HIV in nineteen eighty six, and

0:17:36.485 --> 0:17:38.925
<v Speaker 1>the more intimate he became with his mortality, the more

0:17:38.965 --> 0:17:42.965
<v Speaker 1>ambitious he became to leave a legacy, and in nineteen

0:17:43.005 --> 0:17:46.645
<v Speaker 1>eighty eight, the Wedding Museum hosted a retrospective, a very

0:17:46.725 --> 0:17:49.565
<v Speaker 1>rare honor for a photographer at the time. He also

0:17:49.645 --> 0:17:52.885
<v Speaker 1>put together a show called The Perfect Moment, a collection

0:17:52.925 --> 0:17:55.205
<v Speaker 1>of one hundred and fifty photographs that was going to

0:17:55.205 --> 0:18:00.925
<v Speaker 1>tour around the country. The exhibit was extremely popular wherever

0:18:00.965 --> 0:18:06.405
<v Speaker 1>it went, long lines formed outside the premieres. This amount

0:18:06.445 --> 0:18:14.525
<v Speaker 1>of notoriety for photographs of gay sex. Whow. This also

0:18:14.605 --> 0:18:18.645
<v Speaker 1>made all those conservative senators really pissed off. They're like, dang,

0:18:18.685 --> 0:18:22.125
<v Speaker 1>our tax dollars are funding museums and grants and all

0:18:22.165 --> 0:18:24.805
<v Speaker 1>this other stuff, and then they're just making pictures of

0:18:24.845 --> 0:18:30.325
<v Speaker 1>anal sex. I don't like that at all. Another big

0:18:30.365 --> 0:18:34.325
<v Speaker 1>anti National Endowment for the Arts proponent was Congressman Dick Army.

0:18:35.965 --> 0:18:37.405
<v Speaker 1>I mean, that's kind of funny because his name's like

0:18:37.485 --> 0:18:40.965
<v Speaker 1>Dick arm He sent a letter signed by one hundred

0:18:41.005 --> 0:18:44.885
<v Speaker 1>and seven other representatives calling to cancel the Maplethorpe show.

0:18:44.965 --> 0:18:55.485
<v Speaker 1>In DC. He called his work quote morally reprehensible, trash.

0:18:55.605 --> 0:18:58.845
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I honestly feel like gay sex photos totally chill.

0:18:58.925 --> 0:19:00.725
<v Speaker 1>But he did, you know, he did have a few

0:19:00.725 --> 0:19:03.485
<v Speaker 1>pieces where you could say they were child pornography, which

0:19:03.485 --> 0:19:06.165
<v Speaker 1>that's this a little sus not really good. But there's

0:19:06.205 --> 0:19:08.925
<v Speaker 1>a whole other, like art critique that there's a whole thing,

0:19:08.965 --> 0:19:13.645
<v Speaker 1>there's a whole debate about that anyway. So maple Thorpe's

0:19:13.645 --> 0:19:16.565
<v Speaker 1>on the shit list, Serrano's on the shit list. But

0:19:16.685 --> 0:19:19.805
<v Speaker 1>then they all started going after other art pieces, even

0:19:19.925 --> 0:19:27.205
<v Speaker 1>art pieces that didn't even feature piss or com or pornography.

0:19:28.045 --> 0:19:31.005
<v Speaker 1>Dred Scott Tyler, a student in Chicago, put up an

0:19:31.005 --> 0:19:35.205
<v Speaker 1>installation piece at the Art Institute. It's called What's the

0:19:35.325 --> 0:19:39.125
<v Speaker 1>right Way to Display an American Flag? And in it,

0:19:39.165 --> 0:19:42.485
<v Speaker 1>an actual American flag lays on the ground. It's an

0:19:42.525 --> 0:19:44.925
<v Speaker 1>interactive piece. There's a little book where you're supposed to

0:19:44.925 --> 0:19:47.725
<v Speaker 1>write the answer to that question. But in order to

0:19:47.765 --> 0:19:50.085
<v Speaker 1>get to the book, you have to actually step on

0:19:50.245 --> 0:19:53.005
<v Speaker 1>the flag. That's right. You got to put your little

0:19:53.005 --> 0:19:59.085
<v Speaker 1>foot seas on the flag. And that's what made some

0:19:59.125 --> 0:20:04.085
<v Speaker 1>people real mad, especially Senator Jesse Helms. The one who

0:20:04.125 --> 0:20:09.085
<v Speaker 1>hates all the stuff. The Senate unanimously voted that Tyler

0:20:09.165 --> 0:20:14.525
<v Speaker 1>committed a federal crime with his American flag installation. The

0:20:14.565 --> 0:20:17.685
<v Speaker 1>institute was marched on by veterans, and the museum received

0:20:17.685 --> 0:20:21.605
<v Speaker 1>a bomb threat. The Governor of Illinois reluctantly signed a

0:20:21.645 --> 0:20:24.205
<v Speaker 1>bill cutting off grants to both the school and the

0:20:24.325 --> 0:20:28.725
<v Speaker 1>Illinois Arts Alliance, an arts advocacy group that defended the exhibit.

0:20:30.765 --> 0:20:33.285
<v Speaker 1>The Cochran Museum in DC wanted to stay out of

0:20:33.325 --> 0:20:37.925
<v Speaker 1>the fight and potentially diffuse the whole NEA situation, so

0:20:37.965 --> 0:20:41.925
<v Speaker 1>they canceled the Maplethorpe show, and this was the last

0:20:41.965 --> 0:20:46.485
<v Speaker 1>straw for the other side. Artists and LGBT activists marched

0:20:46.485 --> 0:20:50.445
<v Speaker 1>outside the museum and even projected images of Maplethorpe's self

0:20:50.485 --> 0:20:52.925
<v Speaker 1>portraits and even some of his censored works on the

0:20:52.965 --> 0:20:59.165
<v Speaker 1>facade of the building. After that happened, the museum's director

0:20:59.285 --> 0:21:04.245
<v Speaker 1>issued a formal apology. It said, quote the Cochrane Gallery

0:21:04.285 --> 0:21:07.485
<v Speaker 1>of Art, in attempting to fuse the NEA funding controversy

0:21:07.525 --> 0:21:10.845
<v Speaker 1>by removing itself from the political spotlight, has instead found

0:21:10.885 --> 0:21:14.245
<v Speaker 1>itself in the center of controversy by withdrawing from the

0:21:14.245 --> 0:21:18.045
<v Speaker 1>Maplethorpe exhibition. We the board of trustees, and the director

0:21:18.525 --> 0:21:22.045
<v Speaker 1>have inadvertently offended many members of the arts community, which

0:21:22.085 --> 0:21:25.165
<v Speaker 1>we deeply regret. Our course in the future will be

0:21:25.205 --> 0:21:31.405
<v Speaker 1>to support art, artists and freedom of expression end quote.

0:21:31.485 --> 0:21:33.325
<v Speaker 1>And the thing is that the NEA was also trying

0:21:33.365 --> 0:21:36.725
<v Speaker 1>to fight back against all of this anti artist sentiment.

0:21:37.805 --> 0:21:42.445
<v Speaker 1>Like in June nineteen eighty nine, the House Interior Appropriation Subcommittee,

0:21:42.605 --> 0:21:45.605
<v Speaker 1>they issued a bill with an amendment that would require

0:21:45.685 --> 0:21:49.045
<v Speaker 1>grant urs to receive approval from the NEA before awarding

0:21:49.125 --> 0:21:52.645
<v Speaker 1>monetary grants, basically being like, whoever's awarding the grants, they

0:21:52.645 --> 0:21:54.765
<v Speaker 1>got to get permission to make sure, you know, the

0:21:54.845 --> 0:21:57.765
<v Speaker 1>artists they're trying to give money to isn't producing you know,

0:21:58.165 --> 0:22:02.485
<v Speaker 1>reprehensible trash or whatever. And then a month later, NEA

0:22:02.565 --> 0:22:05.405
<v Speaker 1>Chairman Hugh Southern released a statement asserting that a govern

0:22:05.605 --> 0:22:10.165
<v Speaker 1>an agency is quote expressly forbidden in its authorizing legislation

0:22:10.285 --> 0:22:13.365
<v Speaker 1>from interfering with the artistic choices made by its grantees,

0:22:13.725 --> 0:22:16.725
<v Speaker 1>basically being like, fuck you guys, that's stupid. But then

0:22:16.805 --> 0:22:19.805
<v Speaker 1>a few months after that, Congress came back, doubled down,

0:22:20.245 --> 0:22:24.445
<v Speaker 1>and they passed the NEA's nineteen ninety Appropriations Bill. The

0:22:24.485 --> 0:22:28.085
<v Speaker 1>bill denied funding for projects that quote produce materials which,

0:22:28.125 --> 0:22:30.965
<v Speaker 1>in the judgment of the NEA, may be considered obscene,

0:22:31.245 --> 0:22:35.405
<v Speaker 1>including but not limited to, depictions of sadomasochism, homo eroticism,

0:22:35.565 --> 0:22:39.885
<v Speaker 1>the sexual exploitation of children, individuals engaged in sex acts,

0:22:39.925 --> 0:22:43.325
<v Speaker 1>and which do not have serious literary, artistic, political, or

0:22:43.405 --> 0:22:47.525
<v Speaker 1>scientific value. Though to be honest, I do feel like

0:22:47.525 --> 0:22:51.925
<v Speaker 1>homoroticism has a lot of scientific value. And then the

0:22:51.965 --> 0:22:54.965
<v Speaker 1>bill also authorized the budget to create a twelve member

0:22:55.005 --> 0:22:59.165
<v Speaker 1>commission to review the NEA grant making policy, basically just

0:22:59.165 --> 0:23:00.605
<v Speaker 1>to be like, h we're gonna tell you what to

0:23:00.645 --> 0:23:06.485
<v Speaker 1>do now. Brah Maplethorpe died of AIDS nineteen eighty nine,

0:23:07.285 --> 0:23:10.325
<v Speaker 1>And despite these setbacks against the artists community, Is the

0:23:10.365 --> 0:23:15.445
<v Speaker 1>Perfect Moment continued to tour, premiering again in Cincinnati. This

0:23:15.525 --> 0:23:19.485
<v Speaker 1>resulted in an unsuccessful persecution of the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts

0:23:19.485 --> 0:23:24.845
<v Speaker 1>Center and its director, who are accused of handering obscenity.

0:23:25.445 --> 0:23:28.445
<v Speaker 1>So what happened to everyone else? While Senator Helms and

0:23:28.445 --> 0:23:32.125
<v Speaker 1>the other Conservative senators they continued their crusade against the arts.

0:23:33.045 --> 0:23:36.445
<v Speaker 1>He started going after independent theater companies and arts organizations

0:23:36.485 --> 0:23:41.085
<v Speaker 1>throughout the country. Meanwhile, the American Family Association that sort

0:23:41.125 --> 0:23:44.525
<v Speaker 1>of started this whole mess, they're still trying to get

0:23:44.565 --> 0:23:49.445
<v Speaker 1>the NEA defunded completely. What fun folks, And technically they

0:23:49.445 --> 0:23:51.805
<v Speaker 1>are a hate group designated by the Southern Poverty Law

0:23:51.845 --> 0:23:58.725
<v Speaker 1>Center and Andre Serrano, his career was basically launched by

0:23:58.725 --> 0:24:02.405
<v Speaker 1>this scandal. In December of nineteen eighty nine, his solo

0:24:02.485 --> 0:24:06.645
<v Speaker 1>gallery show was an enormous success, and he continued to

0:24:06.725 --> 0:24:08.645
<v Speaker 1>use all sorts of blood and guts in his work.

0:24:09.525 --> 0:24:12.885
<v Speaker 1>In nineteen ninety he exhibited his piece Blood and Seamen five,

0:24:13.365 --> 0:24:18.445
<v Speaker 1>made of you guessed it, Blood and Seamen and Piss

0:24:18.485 --> 0:24:23.285
<v Speaker 1>Christ continues to piss people off. In twenty eleven, it

0:24:23.365 --> 0:24:25.965
<v Speaker 1>was on view in Avignon, France, and it was vandalized.

0:24:26.365 --> 0:24:28.685
<v Speaker 1>Rocks were thrown at it, which cracked the glass and

0:24:28.725 --> 0:24:34.125
<v Speaker 1>nearly destroyed the photo. But actually earlier this year, in

0:24:34.165 --> 0:24:38.085
<v Speaker 1>summer twenty twenty three, Serrano was actually invited to go

0:24:38.165 --> 0:24:40.685
<v Speaker 1>hang out with the Pope. He and a number of

0:24:40.725 --> 0:24:44.045
<v Speaker 1>other artists were invited to the Sistine Chapel and apparently

0:24:44.085 --> 0:24:47.245
<v Speaker 1>while he was there, Pope Francis gave Serrano a thumbs

0:24:47.325 --> 0:24:53.445
<v Speaker 1>up Serrano said, I was surprised to be invited and

0:24:53.525 --> 0:24:55.605
<v Speaker 1>even more surprised that he gave me a thumbs up,

0:24:55.805 --> 0:24:57.965
<v Speaker 1>and I was very happy that the church understands that

0:24:58.005 --> 0:25:00.205
<v Speaker 1>I am a Christian artist and I am not a

0:25:00.205 --> 0:25:05.085
<v Speaker 1>blasphemous artist. I'm just an artist. Every episode of American

0:25:05.125 --> 0:25:07.525
<v Speaker 1>Filth us a lesson, and I think the lesson we

0:25:07.565 --> 0:25:10.325
<v Speaker 1>can learn here is that you know, sometimes your tax

0:25:10.365 --> 0:25:13.285
<v Speaker 1>dollars aren't gonna go where you want them. But from

0:25:13.285 --> 0:25:15.885
<v Speaker 1>now on, I'm going to write a personal letter to

0:25:15.925 --> 0:25:18.525
<v Speaker 1>the irs every time I file my taxes that says

0:25:18.565 --> 0:25:22.085
<v Speaker 1>I want my money to exclusively go to art made

0:25:22.285 --> 0:25:32.605
<v Speaker 1>from piss. Thanks for listening. American Field is a production

0:25:32.685 --> 0:25:35.205
<v Speaker 1>of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. This episode was

0:25:35.205 --> 0:25:38.325
<v Speaker 1>hosted in sound designed by Me Gabby Wants and written

0:25:38.325 --> 0:25:40.765
<v Speaker 1>by Julia Chris Gao. Theme music is by me and

0:25:40.845 --> 0:25:44.285
<v Speaker 1>Jesse Niswanger. Our senior producer is Amelia Brock, and our

0:25:44.325 --> 0:25:47.525
<v Speaker 1>executive producers are Virginia Prescott, Random Barr and Elsie Crowley.

0:25:47.965 --> 0:25:50.485
<v Speaker 1>You can follow along with the show on Instagram at

0:25:50.525 --> 0:25:53.645
<v Speaker 1>American filth Pod. Be sure to subscribe and review. Leave

0:25:53.725 --> 0:25:56.805
<v Speaker 1>us five stars. Why not talk about you? Next time

0:26:16.605 --> 0:26:17.805
<v Speaker 1>School of humans