Ethical judgments limit the methods available in the production of knowledge.

Ethics, the moral principal that governs behavior, despite seemly being the correct way to lead life, can sometimes be inhibiting. However unusual it sounds, it is possible that there are flaws with being too ethical. To much caution towards ethics can hinder human growth and the acquisition of knowledge, and overall make society less knowledgeable as with no one to break ethical commandments, there are no risk takers and no learning points. A close-minded and traditional society can often be criticized as much as a morally corrupt society. Ethics can be different in various cultures, where in one place something may be acceptable, and in another, a complete blasphemy. In Art you gain knowledge from looking, from feeling, from immersing yourself in the creations of others, so that you can be inspired to create yourself. Often you are limited though, and your ideas are jolted to a stop by censorship, ethical judgments, and the inability to think unconventionally and innovatively. Moral principals are often tested in the arts, as they look to make the viewer step out of their comfort zone, feel something, perhaps something negative, but something impactful nonetheless. In school, the student is often not permitted to look at nude artwork until senior school, and if done so before, it is approached tentatively. In UWCSEA, an affiliated a nude life drawing course is pitched to the students, as it is a fairly lending college environment; yet in an art show I went to last week, of work done by kids from international schools in Singapore, I was told one piece of work I found particularly beautiful was actually a replacement for a piece containing nudity. As the galley was set up in a semi-public area, some of the teachers though it unethical to present this work. Had I not known the existence of this art, I would have been like any other observer in the gallery unknowingly submissive to the censorship occurring around. In a discussion of the moral instinct Pinker, (2008) suggests that attending a performance-art piece in which the actors act like animals crawling around naked and urinating on stage is a breach on the ethics of purity. However, not being what I might opt for on a Saturday night, I dont think authority has a right to disallow the artists to express what they wish. Citizens are not being forced to attend, perhaps a warning of nudity should be put in play but disallowing the presentation in my opinion would, too, be unethical. Why should an authoritative power enforce ethical limitation on the freedom or expression, after all is it not ethical to allow everyones voice to be heard, no matter what medium one wishes to do so in? Unlike physical harm that Haidt discusses through Pinker, (2008), this style of artistic expression causes only emotional discomfort. Unlike some psychology experiments that are deemed unethical because they may cause physical and emotional pain, there is no binding for an individual to stay and watch this performance, or to examine in detail a teenagers depiction of a nude. When did the human form become such a taboo that art containing this subject matter is unable to be hung for fear of breaching ethical guidelines? Everybody is naked. You may feel discomfort when you see it depicted, but again, walk to the next piece if that is the case. Regarding this average a piece in a museum is given 7 seconds by an individual to be looked at, this is why artists strive for innovation and an instant emotional release. In this average, if uncomfortable with the artists depiction, realize after one second and go look at something you particularly enjoy for the other 13 seconds. Art is knowledge. A picture is worth a thousand words. Artists have the tools to manipulate, add, delete or distort their image; effectively writing not only a thousand words, but a thousand perfectly strung words that communicate exactly the intended speech. Artist Andres Serrano in 1987 created and displayed a very controversial

photograph or a plastic crucifix submerged in a tank of his own urine. In 2011, the photograph, while on display was slashed and destroyed by a group of French Catholics disagreeing with the morality of the piece. Serrano himself is a devout Roman Catholic, explaining Piss Christ is a protest to the cheapened state that Christ has become, his world-saving death has been commercialized by an industry of mass production. Serrano explains the message of his artwork is the following statement: I piss on your tame, plastic commercialized Jesus; on the way that youve taken Jesus ultimate expression of love and turned it into a tacky trinket. The protestors, essentially vandalized and destroyed a persons freedom of speech because they were blinded by ethical and religious limitations. Perhaps they would have responded differently had they known his message or religious affiliations, but the fact is they did not. The original has now been destroyed, and should a member of this generation feel and internalized message of the same extents, will never be able to see the original to acquire knowledge and explore methods of producing their own opinions. One groups ethical boundaries (submerging a religious figure in bodily fluid) was diminished and shrunken by another mans ethical boundaries (turning a godly sacrifice into a money producing trinket). Whichever is more in the right and has the most ethical alignment is irrelevant, the production of work to this caliber may have warded off future artist from exploring truly important messages by means of art, because they know that from other artists risks, they are not always greeted respectfully and openly and do not always pay off. Ethics are on a spectrum. Pinker explains many situations may be deemed acceptable, however, when intensified, it can become a violation of ethical morality. Due to cultural upbringing, and many other factors, it is unlikely many individuals lie on the same exact point on the spectrum as others. Some artists may break the boundaries, some may hammer those boundaries down and turn the torn boundaries into art itself; it is all in the eyes of the beholder. As is art itself. Despite having a good moral compass, often having an open mind is they key to a fulfilled life of knowledge, in many different forms and perspectives. Without the perceptions and analytical opinions of others, it is impossible for an individual to develop. Ethics may be innate, but perhaps sometimes, when one prods and agitates just an inch, a door may be thrust open into a collection on new comprehension beyond belief. Refrences Pinker, S (2008) The Moral Instinct. New York Times Serrano, Andres (1987) Piss Christ