Hornby's Nipple Jesus

I think Hornby’s article Nipple Jesus hits on many important aspects of art. One aspect being that depending on how you look at a piece of artwork can change your opinion of the piece. The narrator, Dave shows this in his first, second and third impressions of Martha’s artwork. Dave’s first view is that of Jesus and he likes the piece. When Dave gets closer to the artwork and sees what it consists of his second impression is that he is against it and thinks it is rude. After brooding over the piece for a day he comes to like it and thinks it is clever, even defending the piece to his wife. Dave is devastated when the piece is destroyed. This article reminded me of the discussion we had in class about people not spending more than 30 seconds on average looking at a picture. Through Dave it is shown that if one spends more time looking at a piece, first impressions will change, maybe even multiple times.

What I found difficult in this article is how extreme some people can be. Nipple Jesus was only one piece of artwork yet it stirred up so many feelings of hate. I do not understand how people can protest a piece of artwork that they do not have to view if they do not want to. The artist even put a warning before entering the room to view the piece. I think that this hate should be put toward better causes for protest. It should be accepted that some artwork is not for everyone and be left at that. If these protestors really wanted to make a difference they should be protesting the porn industry not an artists work.