Talking about Taboo means going back hundreds of years of cultural processes in which observing something that can somehow be considered profane can have a monumental historical impact.

Different spaces give one meaning or another to this word but in Codex we consider the following to be correct:

The word taboo refers to a prohibited, morally unacceptable conduct, activity or custom imposed by a society, human group or religion. It is the prohibition of something natural, of religious, economic, political, social or cultural content for an unjustified reason based on unfounded prejudices.

The term taboo is used in the common language to refer to all attitudes, actions, behaviours or set of values that may be opposed to what is socially acceptable and therefore understood as dangerous, unpleasant, questioned or not accepted by the majority of the population. Source

Once we understand the term we will get to know the taboo within the different socio-cultural branches, in this aspect we will take a look at the taboo in the artistic branches, so today we will present a vision of this aspect within this area.

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CODEX

CODEX N°#05 | The Taboo in Art.

"I'm sorry I was your blue devil, your faithful enemy, now taboo"
[Pablo Benegas, The Lovers Of The Polar Circle] - Amaia Montero

The art has been involved in a series of elements that define it as such. From the use of lines, colors and melodies to the passage through theatrical works, literary texts or the greatest sculptures we can see how in these there are determining factors or elements in which the use of language or symbol can cause the viewer to react positively or negatively from the point of view with which they are seen, but what happens when the elements look for a new form? what happens when they touch the forbidden aspect of art?

This is where the Taboo is framed and the eternal debate of what can be considered true art and what for many is simply a banal and vulgar display of a work begins.

In the same vein, we recall that taboo is given as a norm of a socio-cultural nature; what may be considered acceptable to us may not necessarily mean the same for the rest of the population and the clearest example of this may be in the musical aspects of society in which genres such as Rock and Metal have been abused for a long time and today tend to be moderately accepted or tolerated by people who pointed to it as a taboo subject, people who have in turn been molded into a specific cultural thought model.

The same happens in the different spaces of art, in which certain elements define their direction and acceptance.

In sculpture, eroticism is an area that has been well framed since the beginning of time. The sculptors sought to capture human beauty in each of their works but there are authors who transgressed only slightly these canons of human sculpture from ancient Greece and showed a more profane scope of this art that to date has been taken by ecclesiastical society as a merely worldly aspect, yet has served as a subject of study and admiration by many world-famous artists.

The Body is taboo?

Since centuries past, the body has always been framed as a secondary aspect, a representation of earthly aspects and the corrupt. When this body is taken into account, the artist needed to mask it from the soul and give it a more "celestial" sense to eliminate the personality, emotion and subjectivity that may lie within it.

Religion played an important role in this fact, where the power that came from the church imprisons human representation through the arts as a profane aspect. Since then, many natural facts of being have been "frowned upon" by society. Actions as simple as crying, secreting smells, showing affection, burping or other actions become unglamorous in the eyes of society, becoming unattractive or unattractive.

In modern times the human body has been moderately accepted by the social contexts of the population. We see representations in painting, dance and even theatre that in those past centuries were impossible to represent.

The freedom to practice nudity or its depictions has been somewhat more open, but a nude, however artistic it may be, can bring legal complications in countries such as Morocco or Saudi Arabia where established culture and government policies prohibit and imprison people who demonstrate acts of nudity or depictions of it.

But despite this, the nude issue has not been a problem for many world-renowned artists.

^{Die Antwoord not only makes excessive use of nudity but also transgresses all aspects of society by using elements that go beyond the known principles of society. In his music videos we can see a somewhat "different" use of language, completely extravagant visual content and not a hint of respect for what their content may generate in society, but it is their extravagance and their approach to taboo and criticism that make them exceptional.}

^{Patricia Piccinini is an Australian artist who, beyond the nude, seeks the creation of somewhat unusual forms, in which hyperrealism and the combination of elements give her works an unusual meaning that could well be considered taboo in societies determined by the grotesque characteristics of her sculptures.}

^{She has not only ventured into the world of sculpture, but has also developed a great talent in photography and painting in which her works also seek to escape from the monotoneity established in society.}

^{Contenido LGBT although the taboo macro may be present in the nude representation, the LGBT issue appears to a large extent as a taboo before society. The fact of showing relations between the same sex and bringing it into art now often causes repulsion at the established canons of society in which the religious aspect is the one that takes the greatest measure against this type of art. However, this aspect has not been enough to stop the artistic creation around this aspect.}

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In such a way the taboo seems to be biased towards attacking anything that does not exist as a social stereotype. However, day by day, artists fight against this concept and present their works even though they know the problems that could arise from them. This somewhat arrogant aspect, perhaps, can be considered as a constant in the history of art because if we go back to period painters such as Van Goh or Monet, they created works that were never recognized by anyone but their relatives and it was not until their death and a change in the social vision of the time that this Tabou was broken and they begin to admire the work that these painters brought with them.

Now what?

We all know that Taboo is an aspect that is too much framed in everyday life and that it would take many more years to be able to put an end to this aspect considering that day by day new topics of this nature are born. However, the art more than a product must be a true feeling expressed by the means that the author considers convenient without getting so caught up in the "what they say".

That is why as artists we must learn to deal with unconventional themes and understand that even though society may denigrate or point out you for transgressing its vision of culture, it is up to you to decide to what extent to create around this field.

Let us seek in such a way to break the established canons of society and get out of that existing mechanism of containment and social control in order to feel that our art is finally free. Let us defy the forbidden by seeking freedom.

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