Here’s the second article from the Irish K-Stew! This piece originally appeared in UL’s paper, NAME. Some images here may be NSFW

In the 1890s, Oscar Wilde caused quite a stir. From the taboo undertones of A Picture of Dorian Gray to his eventual arrest for homosexual behavior, Wilde had a tendency for scandal. Nowadays, he is considered one of the greatest playwrights Ireland has produced. Still relevant is his claim that “all art is quite useless.”

The question has been raised again amidst the lawsuit against 21 BitTorrent users by Hard Drive Productions, for the illegal download of one of their adult movies. In defense, one woman claims that she is in no breach of copyright because only “useful art” can be protected by the law.

Image from art-or-porn.com

So what exactly deems a piece of work “useful art?” Must it derive a basis in education, science or higher culture? Why is the violent rape in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo art, when Amateur Allure Jen is obscene? Does artistic expression have to pass the judgment of a certain committee to guarantee legal ownership to the creator?

But is it art?

The question is: where does the offending obscenity lie, the aesthetic or the content? The subject can be broken down into two basic constituents: nudity and the nature of sex. The acceptability of nudity has come a long way from the Amish-like censorship it once experienced in the media – anything goes after the watershed hour and shows such as Skins and Misfits often show graphic sex. It is now acceptable because times have changed – much like how the classic nudes of Renaissance artists are now considered masterpieces rather than obscenities.

Perhaps our discomfort with porn comes from the inherent shame associated with sex that still pervades our society. The very nature of sex means that we keep it under wraps to all but our most intimate confidantes – porn forces you to confirm your own desires and urges – and the uneasiness associated with this makes it much easier to berate porn for its immorality than the self discovery of some unpleasant quality.

Expression or a horn dog?

The blogosphere is increasingly acknowledging change in society’s attitudes towards sexuality, significantly amongst women. Between sex positive bloggers, the online diaries of escorts, and the rise in female pornographers (hello 50 Shades), it is no surprise that projects such as Lady Porn Day (an amalgamation of articles, interviews and films celebrating female sexuality) sprung up in 2011. The age old notion of pornographic degradation of women is also slowly being questioned due to the formation of queer and feminist porn.

When Wilde said that all art is useless, he was right – the practicality of art is essentially nil. But art was never about practicality – it is expression, provocation, sensation. People are going to watch pornography whether it is art or not, can we really deny its rights to its creators?