Huskies in the Hallway

Huskies in the Hallway: 1/22/19

This week, Bengisu Incetas asked her fellow huskies:

How do you feel about consuming art by artists who have been accused of sexual assault and/or misconduct?

Cynthia Chan Freshman Pre-major

“I think that their art is different from the actual things that they’ve done and that people can enjoy what they’ve made without associating [it] with what they have done as a person because art is something that everyone wants to enjoy and that person might even enjoy making. It doesn’t really have anything to do with any of the bad things they’ve done.”

Willow Raeburn Sophomore EGL

“This is something that I’ve struggled with personally because I have listened to artists in the past who have been accused. Normally I do stop consuming that art just because I feel personally uncomfortable with it. There are times where like I’ll listen to one song by the artist but I usually feel uncomfortable while listening to it because I just can’t stop thinking about what happened so usually I just stop.”

Kristina Bernadas Sophomore Computer Science

“It’s hard to say because if you take Drake for example, he’s a really good artist — he’s considered a legend and his music is great. But it’s kind of hard when it comes to all the rumors with him liking people underage. It’s hard to say whether its true or not because we don’t know the facts for sure. Unless we have hardcore evidence that says it’s true, then we can say something.”

Michelle Molina Junior History

“In every aspect of my life I try to support people and give people my money who I would support in real life. If I knew them in person and I wouldn’t support them then I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t know them.”

Zoe Graduate Reference Specialist at UW Tacoma Library

“I only feel comfortable answering this question from more a personals perspective. I think that it would taint or skew my enjoyment of the art itself if I knew that the artist had engaged in either sexual assault or illegal misconduct. However, art is art and it is possible to appreciate art outside of the artist but I also know that it would, knowing additional information about inappropriate conduct, would remove my enjoyment perhaps from the work itself.”