It is the sort of ‘adult’ material normally associated with seedy cinemas in grimy red light areas of big cities.
But an exception is made, it seems, when degree students produce X-rated sex videos in the name of art.
Ana Hine shot the video of herself performing a sex act and displayed it in the final year students’ degree show at Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone Art College.
Ana Hine with some of the work she displayed at the final year students’ degree show at Dundee’s Duncan of Jordanstone Art CollegeThe annual show also featured a series of crude installations by two brothers, Calum and Fraser Brownlee, who admitted that their work was inspired by schoolboy humour.
And, despite the questionable artistic value of their exhibits, all three have been awarded first-class degrees by the college, which is part of Dundee University.
When Miss Hine’s work went on show, the college insisted it could only be viewed by people over the age of 18.
The 22-year-old’s video ‘installation’ features an intimate sex act and self-shot naked images.
Other work she displayed at the graduate show included pornographic magazines which she produced herself and prints showing various images of bondage. Both were on sale to members of the public, priced at £30 and £15 respectively.
Miss Hine said: ‘I am pleased to have been awarded a first. I’m actually starting to enjoy myself curating the show.’
Other pieces of work she displayed at the graduate show included pornographic magazines which she produced herself and prints showing various images of bondageShe added that because most visitors were too ‘embarrassed’ to buy her work in person, she would sell it on the internet.
‘I’ve still got loads of porn magazines and bondage prints left though I’ll probably put a photo up over the next few days if people want to buy them online instead,’ she said. ‘I like porn. Watch good porn and the porn will get better.’
Miss Hine, from Dundee, added: ‘On the opening night there were a couple of guys who were a bit disgusted, but generally it’s been quite good.’
However, Tory education spokesman Liz Smith said: ‘Many people will question the artistic value of this kind of exercise, and whether it is appropriate for one of Scotland’s leading art institutions.’
One installation by the Brownlee brothers, Calum, 23, and Fraser, 21, was banned by organisers of the show on health grounds. Some of their other exhibits featured sex toys and bodily functions.
Welcoming their first-class degrees, Calum said: ‘It’s only recently that we have started working together but it seems natural. It’s not forced in any way.’
He said the fixation with private parts in their art came from schoolboy humour.
But he added: ‘I’d like to think we are being subtle about it. We want to make people look at their own dark side – even though they are not comfortable with it.’
A spokesman for the college defended the art show, which ran late last month, saying: ‘We respect our students’ right to self-expression.’
Miss Hine said that because most visitors were too ’embarrassed’ to buy her work in person, she would sell it on the internetThe annual event attracts thousands of visitors each year and is a springboard to careers in art for many students.
In recent years the college has developed a reputation for challenging traditional perceptions of what constitutes art. In 2005 one graduate, Des Smith, was chosen by Angus Council to produce a two-foot high bronze sculpture of a teenage ‘ned’ wearing a hoodie, sweatshirt and baggy trousers.
‘Many people will question the artistic value of this kind of exercise, and whether it is appropriate for one of Scotland’s leading art institutions’
– Tory education spokesman Liz Smith
The statue, which cost £1,500 of taxpayers’ money, went on display in Montrose the following year. At the time, the council’s leisure services convener, Joy Mowatt, said the artwork was designed to inspire debate on the state of modern youth.
In 2010, Glasgow-born artist Susan Philipsz, a Duncan of Jordanstone graduate, won the Turner Prize.
The Berlin-based artist made her name by singing unaccompanied songs over supermarket PA systems.
She later explained: ‘I am interested in the psychological effects of song. People hear an untrained voice singing unaccompanied and find it quite strange. It is like putting something very private in a public context.’
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design has been rated the top art school in Scotland and is in the top four in the UK.
Read more: Daily Mail
sin,they were doing it to seduce you.