Out Takes

6 Aug 2016

Is it Art or is it Porn?

Arts, TV & Film

This week on Out Takes we traversed the fine line between pornography and art in film. There’s no doubt, much of queer cinema centres on sex and sexuality. But how explicit does the representation of that sexuality need to be to make the film it is part of pornographic? And does, then, the exclusion of certain cinema from the ambit of art presuppose some essential or cultural ethos that is controversial at best?

To help us with this enquiry, we’re joined by controversial writer Dennis Cooper (Frisk; Closer) whose feature film debut LIKE CATTLE TOWARDS GLOW screened at MQFF earlier this year. Cooper’s work is renowned for it’s edgy evocation of sexually explicit themes; he helps us apprehend the proper character of pornography and look at whether films can be both pornographic and artistic. We also look at some of the most iconic films to mediate the divide between pornography and art: FIREWORKS, SALO, SHORTBUS and the oeuvre of Bruce La Bruce.

Essential viewing: Fireworks (1947, Dir. Kenneth Anger). 

Hungry for more: Shortbus (2006, Dir John Cameron Mitchell) and (2004, Bruce La Bruce). 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 51:47 — 23.7MB)

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