Confronting Bodies: The Liebeskonzil was banned by a Munich court in 1895, and Panizza was sentenced to a year in prison for blasphemy. In 1993, the European Court of Human Rights upheld a decision made seven years earlier (1986) by an Austrian court to stop a film based on the play.
Date of Action: 1895 and 1986
Specific Location: Munich in 1895 Innsbruck in 1986
Description of Artwork: Oscar Panizza, a turn-of-the-century modernist, made religious and political hypocrisy his main target. In Kaiser Wilhelm's Germany, he found no lack of inspiration. Das Liebeskonzil is a satire on the hypocrisy of religion. In the Austrian film version, the director Werner Schroeter used a performance of the play by Teatro Belli in Rome as a basis and set it in the context of a reconstruction of Panizza's blasphemy trial.
Description of Incident: In support of its ruling, the European Court applied the principle of giving national definitions of human rights a certain latitude, regardless of the symbolic implications of upholding outright censorship at a European level.
The Innsbruck court of appeals confirmed a decision of a lower court, based on the assumption that "artistic freedom is necessarily limited by the rights of others to religious freedom and the obligation of the state to guarantee a society founded on order and tolerance."
Results of Incident: In both cases the work of art is condemned for blasphemy.
Source: NCAC, Arne Ruth
Date Input: Wednesday, May 7, 2003
Date Edited: Wednesday, May 7, 2003
Name: Poor Lonesome Lisa, The Stupid Sad Slut [ Edit ]
Date: 1995 - 2005
Location: Europe
Subject: Nudity
Medium: Photography
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Artist: Mat Vaassen Confronting Bodies: anonymous person (audience), the police and the public prosecutor Date of Action: 2002 Specific Location: Kunsthaus Essen / Essen Germany Description of Artwork: Three posters size ca. 20 x 30 cm. each (small "versions" of larger posters that exist in 3 x 4 m size). The poster that was proclaimed to be pornographic shows a woman who cuts her wrists and fucks a dog. The text on the poster says: Poor Lonesome Lisa, The Stupid Sad Slut. She slashed her wrists and fucked her dog Bobby one last time. The other two posters: 1 A woman shitting on a child's grave (And then mummy became The Crazy Bitch That Shits On Her Daughter's Grave (about a tragic woman who has lost her 5 year old daughter)); 2 A sad woman sitting under a rope from which bloodfilled tampons are dangling, chewing on a used tampon (When Chicken Brain Francine Menstruates, She Chews On Her Used Tampons, like the neighbourhood boys often forced her to do while they masturbated, spat on her and called her a fucking idiot.) For visuals of the posters, go to: www.tamminga-vaassen.tk or http://members.ams.chello.nl/avree/BeppieTamminga&MatVaassen.html Description of Incident: Three posters were shown in the anniversary exhibition of the Kunsthaus Essen. An anonymous person wrote a protest letter to the Kunsthaus, to the police, the public prosecutor, the sponsors, the mayor and the press about these works and a work by Ilona Plattner. The public prosecuter proclaimed the poster of the woman with the dog to be pornographic. All other works were acceptable for German law and order. Results of Incident: Kunsthaus Essen had to remove the one so-called pornographic poster by order of the public prosecutor. Otherwise they were guilty of showing pornography in a public place. Kunsthaus Essen decided to remove also the other three artworks by the two artists and show them only to people who asked to see them. All works were banned from the auction at the end of the show. Source: Personal story. Submitted By: Mat Vaassen |
Date Edited: Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Name: 'Darling, Our Baby is Handicapped.' [ Edit ]
Date: 1995 - 2005
Location: Europe
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Photography
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Artist: Mat Vaassen Confronting Bodies: Occupants and visitors of the city, a Junky and the mayor of the city and the people that work for him. Date of Action: 1998 Specific Location: Maastricht, The Netherlands Description of Artwork: Three posters. Size appr. 3 x 4.50 m. One poster shows a woman giving bith to a handicapped child. The baby's head is visible. The father of the child has an axe in his hand, threatening to cut off the baby's head. The second poster shows a clown giving birth to a handicapped child and swinging the axe. Poster three shows clown Cuckoo's group of mentally handicapped children (their heads being vegetables and fruits). For all posters see www.tamminga-vaassen.tk or http://members.ams.chello.nl/avree/BeppieTamminga&MatVaassen.html
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Date Edited: Tuesday, April 22, 2003
Name: HENRY MILLER'S TROPIC OF CANCER [ Edit ]
Date: 1926 - 1950 ,1951 - 1975
Location: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality ,Sexual/Gender Orientation
Medium: Literature
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Artist: HENRY MILLER Confronting Bodies: UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Date of Action: 1936-1961 Specific Location: UNITED STATES Description of Artwork: sexually explicit novels
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