Monday, April 11, 2005

Censorship in Cin City

No, I'm not talking about the government. This is not a post on the action of government Censorship. I am referring to the knee-jerk prudes at Tower Place Retail, LLC. who without saying a word have done their part to censor art. I am of course discussing the denial by Tower Place Retail from allowing the Fringe Festival to use the former Closson's store space.

What I don't understand from this story is what really happened. Did Tower Place Retail, LLC. really deny the space, or did their representative Christi Begley, manager of the Tower Place Mall choose to on her own? Also, how does Madison Marquette fit into all of this? Are they the operator/developer of the Mall, not the owner?

There are a couple of bullshit issues here. The Closson's area is not even part of the "family-friendly venue," it is not inside the mall or on the same block. Additionally, only a block over rests the Hustler Store, so bitching about "family values" is rather moot. Art is something the anti-intellectual crowd fears, so falling back on the "family" is a convenient code.

It is most amazing to me that the Mall Managers backed out since this is the same mall that allowed a cult to use actual internal mall space to get new recruits. I guess a few swear words are going to kill babies, but taking the money from brain washers is a fine and honorable way to be "family friendly." I guess if you are a fringe religion with money to burn, you get your way. If you are instead a ?fringe? arts festival pushing individual expression of ideas, you must be stopped at all cost.

Where is art lover Peter Bronson on all of this? Last year he whined like a little girl and then was later bitch-slapped back into the real world. Did he drop a dime on the festival? I doubt it. I don?t think Fringe Fest has enough Google Hits to catch Peter?s eye. I don?t think there has been a CCV email denouncing it yet either, so it will only be a matte of time for Bronson to rant on it. He instead is spending his time bashing schools and homosexuals at the same time. (Note to Peter, Condoms don't kill people, people do. They save lives too, but only if people use them.)

This entire incident sounds something like what happened to the local Rock the Vote event last year, where one mindless person complained to the library and cancelled the event literally at the last minute.

Finally it is odd that Editorial pages moan when people get a face full of pie, but do not hit at businesses who crush art without the slightest care for fairness. Businesses have the "right" to use their property as they see fit. This is how and why the government should continue and increase its support for the arts. They only type of art one gets from businesses tends to be entertainment, as opposed to art. You get clichéd ideas wrapped in pretty faces. You don't get the zenith of thought and expression. A Jimmy Falon movie is not Citizen Kane, it is not even Star Wars: Episode III. The Theater, visual arts, and music can't be left to the whims of the rich. If you do then you either get endless Movies about Biblical bowel movements, or you get popularity contests.

If you support art in Cincinnati, makes sure you volunteer for Fringe.

If you wish to voice your opinion, there is a way to contact Mall Management. Be respectful and do nothing to make things worse, that means no anger, and of course nothing to get you or anyone in trouble with the law.

Wes Flinn and Nick Spencer have more.

Praise be to 19th century
art from the Enquirer, but not a word on fresh art today.

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