Examine Your Own Limits

It is a value of art to push us out of our comfort zone—to challenge conventions and limits, including what subjects and materials are deemed “appropriate” for art and to continually challenge what art’s form and purpose are in society. It can raise difficult questions about taboo subjects and break with the past to create the new. Mass media like to focus on art in two primary ways: as scandalous controversy and as money (and the two can sometimes support each other). This sensationalist approach to culture reinforces the feeling that art is dangerous. Do we place limits on what can be seen and discussed? What is the line and how far is too far?