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Rant Understanding Freedom Entails Responsibility - by Arnold Skives T h e purchase of the urineJoyner concerning these highly offensive photographs of the Holy Father. A s a professional artist, over the years I have visited hundreds o f galleries throughout North America and Europe, yet never have I been more offended as a Catholic and as an artist than by the V A G ' s pair of these repellent, larger than life-size portraits of his Holiness, the Pope. Andres Serrano, author of this pastiche, is well known for his artistic posturing. A s Dena Shottenkirk. writing in Art in America notes, "(Serrano) contents himself with the easy shock, offering a weak and cheap contribution to a subject deserving of more" (December' 93). Most people would appreciate the V A G ' s defence of freedom o f expression: the point is. of course, that freedom entails responsibility A s Stanford University President Gerhard Casper writes. "Harassment, intimidation or personal civilized society" (Stanford Magazine, June' 95). vilification Alumni have no place in any rational, soaked images of H i s Holiness. Pope John Paul II, contributed to Toni Onley's resignation from the Vancouver Art Gallery's ( V A G ) Acquisitions Committee-an action that first impelled me to write to the gallery's director, J. Brooks Joyner's predecessor, Willard Holmes. In response, M r . Holmes invited me to view the photographs personally. I accepted, and found them artistically mediocre, and the rationale for their purchase unconvincing. I have also written to and talked with J. Brooks This pair of photographs is offensive to an individual regarded as a moral leader by all societies-he is a beloved representative to a faith consisting of a billion people. Were the artist to amplify or in some way explain the nature of his wishing to debase both the Pope's-and as Catholics, our own human dignity-we might as Christians at least qualify our pain. Serrano does not do this, he merely vilifies and debases. That this work is an expression o f intolerance can be easily demonstrated. If instead of John Paul II, an image of the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem or the M u s l i m ' s holy book, the Koran, were pictured immersed in urine, what kind o f public reaction could be anticipated? These photographs are grievously offensive to Catholics and to many others, and there is a mounting groundswell of outrage. For all those involved in the arts, there is an added concern: this pastiche, a "poisoned apple." in effect debases art, and jeopardizes the V A G ' s societal contribution. Francisco G o y a entitled one of his etchings that is being exhibited alongside the piss photographs, " Y N o Hay Remedios"-"there is no solution." There is a solution, though. Artists 3>,<=r/ and museum curators are no less immune from error than anyone else: would it not be appropriate for the V A G to acknowledge that an error was made, and then have the pair of offensive Cibachromcs removed from the collection? C S Arnold Skives, MA, is a renowned visual artist