The Blurred Artistic Line

A 19 year old art student at Central Saint Martins is planning on losing his virginity, on stage, to a man, on the 25^th of January next year. Don’t worry though guys, it’s not porn, it’s just art, it’s even called ‘Art School Stole My Virginity’.

Clayton Pettet thought up this idea when he was 16 - whilst all his friends were losing their virginity and having normal teenage lives, Pettet let his inner artist control his sex life and decided to make a piece that questions the emotional and valuable aspects of virginity. This piece of performance art is going to be watched by 100 very…open minded spectators, and it’s obviously going to be really edgy and controversial.

To what extent can this actually be classed as performance art? To me, this is just like a live porn show, its leading role played by a boy that is trying to push boundaries that shouldn’t be pushed. This is almost definitely pornography. I’m all for contemporary art but I refuse to acknowledge this on an artistic level, sorry Pettet. I’m pretty sure the law disallows public sexual activity and nudity.

Pettet uses his tumblr (yes he’s an art student with a tumblr, no biggie) to defend the performance by saying:

“The Idea of “Art School Stole My Virginity” came around when I was Sixteen, when all my peers at school were losing their Virginity it was incredibly hard for me to ask why I was still a Virgin and why it meant so much to the people all around me. My piece isnt a statement as much as it is a question. The whole aspect of Virginity was incredibly emotional for me and has been ever since. It became a thought process that turned into the performance piece that I wish to create for the public on January the 25th. The London Art Scene has slowed down recently and whilst London is in its prime and is constantly changing the contemporary artists are the same and they aren’t so contemporary anymore. I want my piece to inject some speed into the arts, a performance of the people if you will.  I feel like now is the time for the new scene.”

My main complaint about that is when he said that the contemporary artists aren’t so contemporary anymore – I’ve seen a lot of questionable art over the past 6 months that I feel is bordered on being TOO contemporary for the general public to grasp their over cultured brains around, so I don’t really understand the need for an even MORE vague link to art to be made.

What’s so wrong with a nice oil painting now a days?