Ethical Considerations For The Artist
Violence: the threat or use of harmful force, physical or psychological.
Humans have the capacity to act violently, and many have the capacity to accept, follow, or ignore violence. Violent acts may also deprive an individual or group of something essential, for example, depriving someone of water.
Here I consider the depiction and representation of human violence in art, and the choices artists make when expressing acts of violence.
Art is something created and crafted for the mind and body that carries special significance (emotional, intellectual, spiritual, aesthetic, metaphoric, symbolic, societal, or political).
On the surface, art stimulates our senses, thoughts, and emotions. Below its surface art may move us to change - this change may be harmful or helpful.
Before I consider how the artist navigates the depiction and messaging of violence in their work, I am going to try to define what an artist is.
An artist is someone who uses their creative skills with care and thought to produce something that appeals to the mind, body, and spirit. Artists attempt to reveal interior and external worlds, as well as qualities beyond the senses, for example hate and love.
When attempting to define what an artist is I pondered on articulating their creativity combined with their craft (their care and skill), yet at the same time for this to apply to the realm of meaning as well as those arts that are experienced through our senses. With this in mind I consider artists include those who write literary and dramatic works, as much as visual artists, sculptors, choreographers, and music composers who also work with light, movement, texture, volume, and time.
I Am Strong · You Are Weak
The principle of artistic freedom may be viewed in opposition to an artist's ethical responsibilities which require constraint. An artist's freedom is always in flux, considered, and responsive to circumstance, rather than a spurious right to do anything they please.
Freedom should be constrained by the responsibilities of power.
When an individual, group, or state has complete freedom, there is no curb to the harm that can be done. I am constrained by my conscience, and by the law where I live. International laws constrain the freedom of states to act in harmful ways to its population, neighbours, and environment. These laws do not however prevent individuals or states from ignoring them.
The artist’s power lays in their ability to inspire and persuade. Artists are often persecuted and imprisoned in totalitarian regimes because of their power to express criticism that resonates with those opposed to the way a state acts. Although the depiction of violence can be a catalyst for social commentary and change, it also risks causing harm and desensitisation, and these may be used as bogus counterweights to justify the punishment or excile of artists.
Ethics: beliefs about love as a choice and action that governs behaviour.
My view is that artists have a responsibility to grapple with the challenge of portraying violence in a way that is meaningful and socially conscious, rather than exploitative or sensationalist.
The ethical artist must consider not only what violence they depict, but how, and why, engaging in critical self-reflection that weighs their creative vision against its potentially negative consequences.
To make well it is important to navigate the psychological impact of violence on audiences, the risk of normalising aggression, and the duty to represent victims and perpetrators with sensitivity and depth. This is difficult when an artist is passionate in their opposition to extreme violence, for example when states kill civilians, or when a state is at war.
Structural violence refers to the harm inflicted on individuals and groups through social structures and institutions that create and perpetuate inequalities and injustices.
Artists need to consider how depictions of violence reinforce or challenge structural violence, especially against marginalized groups such as women.
Depictions that inadvertently reinforce patriarchal or oppressive narratives can perpetuate structural violence even if not intended by the artist. Furthermore, the act of honouring artists with problematic histories of depicting violence can send public signals that condone or normalise spurious cultural conventions.
Artworks that engage ethically with violence, such as those focused on survivor perspectives or fostering solidarity, can have reparative effects. Conversely, works that fail to consider context or audience interpretation risk reinforcing harmful stereotypes about violence or may cause individual and/or societal distress.
Being an artist requires constraint and thought. Thinking carefully about what I create from an ethical point of view may not be to my financial or commercial advantage, but it is to my benefit in building individual and societal strength and resilience.
If I allow my music for use in media that depict gratuitous violence, I become part of a problem that reinforces attitudes about power that are harmful. I have therefore chosen not to license my music for film or games.
When I depict violence in my art, my efforts are guided by the importance and responsibilities I have as an artist of caring for others.
As artists engage with themes of trauma, conflict, and social injustice, their choices in representing violence shape public discourse, influence perceptions, and either challenge or reinforce societal or state narratives.
I do not wish to censor violence from art, but to encourage that its depiction is thoughtful, critical, and guided by an intention to expose the consequences of love's absence.
. . .