D&G: Art, Porn or Just Desperate for your Money?

With the insurgence of erotic magazines across elite university campuses, the question has come up everywhere: What is the difference between art and porn? To me, the difference is the idea. The artist must transcend beyond the implicit objectification, the implied violence, and project a concept of meaning and thought to its audience that is separate from the image itself.

Below is a picture from the recent Dolce & Gabanna gang rape advertisement controversy. D&G claim that it is ART. Spain and Italy obviously disagree, and have subsequently banned the ad from their countries. D&G now cries censorship.

Dolce & Gabbana Men's Ad

Maybe this is what I see from the photo: Bunch of gay men trying to rob a woman for her FABULOUS shoes. Is this art? More like a perfect example of mixing sex and violence in marketing. So so cliched. D&G shouldn't be banned for inciting violence against women, they should be banned for lacking originality. Below is another unoriginal fashion contribution by D&G. But like the movie 300, sometimes an ab is just an ab....

Dolce & Gabbana Men's Ad

Comments

[Charlie 5-0]

[this is good] Interesting idea and great post.  I hadn't seen these ads; I like how shiny the people are--they look like action figures.  I would never seen the 'date rape' theme without having it pointed out to me, but then again, I may be pretty dense.

[semblance]

[this is good] I dunno, I would never say that an advertisement is "art." In my opinion, that goes against the very nature of what art is supposed to be. So if D&G wants to play the art trump card, well, they better work harder at making it a little less transparent and a little more interesting...

Supposidly, the current advertising world is working really hard to catch people's attention because most are just too immune to normal tactics. As a consequence, advertisers sometimes resort to really controversial if not horrible tactics in order to get people to look. This strikes me as one of those adds. Heck, we're here talking about it so something's working...

[Vesper]

Yeah, Semblance, I debated whether to put up that ad or not, since doing so certainly gives it undeserving publicity. I figured this was already everywhere so it won't make that much of a difference. It's not like I would EVER buy anything D&G, and I also flagged it as possibly offensive, thus it's not searchable on VOX. (I did refused to blog about another incident with Forbes mag trying to incite attention with its women-who-work-are-not-marriage-material editorials.) 

[Lorelei]

Honestly, the psuedo "gang rape" ad would work better for me if it were a man being held down by a bunch of men. Or by a bunch of women, for that matter.  This shit is just boring: if they're gonna generate controversy, couldn't D&G's ad agency come up with something to really talk about?

Also, those abs have GOT to be photoshopped. Just..DAMN.

[ajuvando]

[c’est top] I love you comments regarding this........fashion ads, have inevitably fallen to ruin when it comes to originality, which I still think died in the 70's (^_^)

[Boniface Lo]

[this is good] You have quickly thought up such matchless answer?