Please, take a look on the discussion about the rise of violent imagery: forum.deviantart.com/devart/ge… - which I think is a significant subject, and I encourage you to voice your opinion. I decided to share it, as for many years I've observed the same, and thus I share Liz's concerns about it.
You don't have to visit the certain corners of deviantART to experience what is talked about, it's enough to turn on tv, give a little thought to what is promoted in popculture, or just keep an eye on the Daily Deviations page, what I've been doing almost daily for years so far. And since some time I started to wonder what's going on - as rarely was there a time I haven't seen blood, mutilation, agression and overall dystopia (most of them displaying a complete lack of originality or a thoughtful message behind) being a considerable part of what is promoted there, not only as a reflection of current artistic 'interests', or 'trends', but also as a 'direction' for all of us who look and create. Someone may say that I should not bother, or that I am not forced to look at it. Of course, I may not bother, but it won't dispel my concerns nor answer the nagging questions and doubts that I have - and these concerns and questions are not limited to art, but much about the world I'm living in, or the world I would like to live in.
That's why I ask - do we really need even more of this in our life? Is it a kind of miraculous vitamine for our minds? Does really someone fail to realize that any concepts and ideas do not function in the ranges of their own semantic potential, but also, or especially by the circumstances and contextual frames they are presented in? For when this contextual frame is the category of distinction, success and popularity - there's always a factor of conscious choice involved on the side of a director/administrator, which influences the ones who respond by following, and the focus on success, like it or not, happens to be blinding.
I do not have that much problem with what is expressed somewhere there in the name of the freedom of expression, but I have serious problem with what is selected out and promoted there by those who have the choice, and I do not understand the turn I observe in their choices. While I'm not going to judge the art itself, as I cannot say that the sole freedom to express can be good or bad, or that having a choice can be good or bad, I still can evaluate a particular choice and express my opinion on it, and I think the time has come for me to do so.
Not being an advocate of censorship and clear-cut limitations, especially in the case of artistic expression, what I try to encourage is *thinking*, because it always best when a particular choice comes from inside, not being forced from outside. I'm also not going to lead any crowds onto barricades with this journal, I just would like you to stop and ponder for a while on this subject, and if there comes an action, I will be more than happy - and by the action I mean as little (or as much) as commenting, spreading the word, or taking a stand, because I believe that best solutions flourish from sole awareness, respect and understanding.