nebulus@well.sf.ca.us (Bruce McDiffett - no good deed goes unpunished) (01/22/91)
The Bay Area chapter of ACM/Siggraph - the Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques - along with CPSR - Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility - announce a joint January meeting: COMPUTER EROTICA? OR COMPUTER PORNOGRPAHY? A Panel Discussion Paula Hawthorne, Moderator 8:00 pm Tuesday, Jan. 29 Xerox PARC Auditorium 3333 Coyote Hill Road Palo Alto, CA Erotic artwork has been the focus of a great deal of heated debate in the past year. A Cincinnati art gallery was put on trial for exhibiting erotic photos by Robert Mapplethorpe. The United States Congress spent months contemplating restrictions on the sexual content of artwork sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. A music video by Madonna was deemed "inappropriate" for MTV, yet was subsequently shown on ABC's Nightline, resulting in Nightline's second-highest ratings ever. The debate extendeds to the technical community as well. Computer games with sexual episodes sell extremely well, or are widely copied. Traffic continues to increase in the Usenet newsgroup alt.sex.pictures. Explicit autostereograms were exhibited this year at the national Siggraph art show. This joint meeting of Bay Area Siggraph and CPSR will be an examination of some of the artistic, social, legal, and constitutional issues surrounding erotic computer imagery. The meeting format will be panel discussion, with panel participants giving their analysis of the above issues, followed by questions and commentary from the moderator and from the audience. > Attendee Discretion Advised This meeting will be a mature discussion of adult topics, and as such should be considered R-rated (or NC-17). Attendance by young children is discouraged. Similarly, adults whose idea of mature discussion is a shouting match should probably be left at home. > Directions to Xerox From 280, take the Page Mill Road exit. Take Page Mill 1 mile east to Coyote Hill Road. Follow Coyote Hill 1/2 mile, and Xerox will be on the left. Follow the signs to the auditorium and visitor parking area. From 101, take the Oregon Expressway exit west 2 miles to El Camino Real. Oregon Expressway becomes Page Mill Road at El Camino Real. Follow Page Mill Road 1.7 miles to Coyote Hill Road and turn left. Go 1/2 mile and Xerox will be on the left. Follow the signs to the auditorium and visitor parking area. The auditorium entrance is at the north end of the building, at the bottom of the stairs. __________________________________________________________________________ Bay Area ACM/Siggraph Bruce McDiffett, President P.O. Box 3553 nebulus@well.sf.ca.us Santa Clara, CA 95055 For up to date information about this and other Siggraph activities, call the Bay Area Siggraph GraphicsLine at (415) 599-2054, 24 hours a day. __________________________________________________________________________
stam@dgp.toronto.edu (Jos Stam) (01/26/91)
In article <22801@well.sf.ca.us> nebulus@well.sf.ca.us (Bruce McDiffett - no good deed goes unpunished) writes: > > [stuff deleted] > > >Erotic artwork has been the focus of a great deal of heated debate in >the past year. A Cincinnati art gallery was put on trial for exhibiting >erotic photos by Robert Mapplethorpe. The United States Congress spent >months contemplating restrictions on the sexual content of artwork >sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. A music video by >Madonna was deemed "inappropriate" for MTV, yet was subsequently shown >on ABC's Nightline, resulting in Nightline's second-highest ratings >ever. > This has always bothered me since I moved to North America, what is wrong with showing nudity? What are they afraid of? On the other hand, scenes of violence on TV and in movies are freely allowed. For me this is just stupid puritanism, and it seems to get worse... [I know this is not the right newsgroup to start discussions like this, but I just couldn't resist] Jos
eugene@nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) (01/26/91)
In article <1991Jan25.144105.4056@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> stam@dgp.toronto.edu (Jos Stam) writes: >>Erotic artwork has been the focus of a great deal of heated debate in >>the past year. A Cincinnati art gallery was put on trial for exhibiting >>erotic photos by Robert Mapplethorpe. The United States Congress spent >> [If pro is to progress, then con is to ....] >This has always bothered me since I moved to North America, what is wrong >with showing nudity? What are they afraid of? On the other hand, scenes of >violence on TV and in movies are freely allowed. For me this is just >stupid puritanism, and it seems to get worse... >[I know this is not the right newsgroup to start discussions like this, but > I just couldn't resist] You raise a good question. Actually, that is why we are holding this meeting: to explore some of the issues involved. We will not be simply talking about nudity (you might not remember one of the earliest adult PC games involved the rape of an Indian (Custer's Last Stand [taken off the shelf])). I am one of the people organizing the meeting. We think now is the time to begin discussing some of the issues involved. We don't know all the issues that is why we are holding the meeting (and if a reader thinks they do, nothing personal, you probably don't 8^). Bay Area ACM/SIGGRAPH has a history of examining topics (such as legal issues of graphics like copyright, etc.) before other parts of the country think about some of them. We do not take a specific stand, but we think the issues bear some examination. We have done a LOT of research for this meeting (phone calls around the country [some of the most bizzarre I've ever had (made me feel like I was living in a police state)], newspaper articles (about the Usenet [a.s.p.]), demos, futures, etc.) And this is one of the places to discuss this issue. We are the creators of imagery and the tools to generate images. We stand where television stood forty years ago. We believe some of the issues might grow into problems, and we want to know why. Is this going to be a big market? Are there threats to "51% of the population" or "expression of artistic freedom?" We can't cover everything in 1-2 hours. We want a lot of open discussion, and we want men and women to come, listen, and provide input. To our knowledge, this is the first meeting of its type held. "Silicon Valley" graphics professionals and the general public are invited to attend. This won't be a peep show. It won't be a religious revival meeting. It won't be totally academic. And, we don't charge for our meetings. --e. nobuo miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov Past President, Bay Area ACM/SIGGRAPH {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene AMERICA: CHANGE IT OR LOSE IT. Violence: And yes, actually BA ACM/SIGGRAPH has had tours of computer war gaming facilities. Our society is somewhat paradoxic.