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Artist as Prisoner

Ed Bobb punched a few keys and went to jail. Where's the justice?

A A A Comments (6) By Rob Jordan Thursday, May 31 2007

...continued from page 5

Recher says he hadn't seen Bobb much in recent years. He hadn't heard anything about child porn. Although Recher wrote a letter to the court about Bobb's upstanding character and his contributions to the Miami arts community, he admits, "There are still a lot of things about it that I don't understand."

Stephanie Garcia, a fellow student of Bobb's at the New World school, says she can't begin to understand the case either. It seems another inexplicable piece of an unusual puzzle. "He's like this 18-year-old stuck in a 50-year-old's body," Garcia says of her soft-spoken classmate.

Noma Bliss

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"To think of him as a geeky pornographer is just unthinkable," says Marilyn Gottlieb Roberts. "He just doesn't seem creepy. He doesn't seem damaged."

Some are too disturbed by the charges to speak about the case. Responses like that of Kevin Arrow, chief registrar at Miami's Museum of Contemporary Art, are typical. "I'd prefer that you just cross me off the list and move to the next name," Arrow says when asked about Bobb.

It's not surprising that Bobb's case makes some uncomfortable, says Gustavo Matamoros. "The importance of artists in a community is that they're people whose job is to challenge."

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Claudia 10/23/2007 1:54:00 PM

If you've never been to a nudist beach before, here are a few guidelines: Gawking is impolite. If you want to go to the nudist beach for a thrill, do everyone a favor and buy a magazine instead. Ask for people's consent before taking their photograph nude. Read more on http://www.naturistspace.org

Ted 08/17/2007 6:30:00 AM

Lame.

jen herrera 08/16/2007 11:10:00 PM

LC we forgive you for being nieve. Unfortunately it doesn't take thousands of child rape videos to create art about it. Why in the world anyone would take pleasure in expressing this in the first place I don't know. In the days and weeks it took to indulege himself in those horrific images he could have been selling art that was pro children to STOP THOSE KINDS OF TAPES. you don't need to watch them. You need to raise money to end them. you need to stop them. Unfortunately it is stupidity like yours that destroys the internal organs of little girls and boys all around the world. That takes self value as little heard and urinates all over it. I am sure that that has been considered artistic at one point or another..You are just as guilty as those you try to cover and defend. Repulsive. That is all you and your associates are. I would like to see this printed. However in our culture it is much less offensive to watch a baby defiled than to be held accountable, we shall see. Jen

jen herrera 08/16/2007 10:57:00 PM

I can't help but ask HAS ANYONE CAST THE LIGHT INTO ROB JORDANS PERSONAL LIFE LATELY? Because with the angle he's trying to work on this article he may be one of those who thinks that sex tourists of America are getting a bum rap. I fail to see the artistic expression one could be inspired by in watching thousands of children being raped, devalued, and their little lives that are rated as worthless and disposable. This is not pushing the bounds of artistic expression. How could one get print time for incouraging child rape to go on. And by the way watching thousands of child pornograpy takes or flicks DOE'S keep it perpetuating. Paul Gaeta who was a student, feels that he is polluted by images all the time. Then he should appreciate that choosing to pleasure in a small child being ripped open so that some doctor can get his rocks off is not your every day image and to see something like this takes effort, and a sick mind. Who is it that has to answer to their actions? is it the student who can't differentiate between polluted images and the defiling of little children? Is it the Journalist who tries to minimize the perversions of a teacher? Or is it the teacher who keeps supply and demand alive and well for the american doctor (or whoever) to go to another country and rape little children who were unfortunate enough to be born into the life of poverty? I doubt that my comment will be listed because no one takes accountability anymore. I think we should turn Nebraska into a jail state and through all of them in jail.

Liz Hernandez 06/04/2007 1:09:00 PM

It is most difficult, if not usually impossible, for the average person to think as an artist thinks. But let us try to think instead as a scientist (which may be equally difficult for many, but let us try anyway). If one were investigate a topic, one needs to find out as much about it as possible. When writing a research paper on said topic, it is of vital importance to research that topic thoroughly. It would be impossible to make a statement on what is out there without immersing oneself in the subject and all aspects of it. If I were to research poisonous substances and collect photos of the external and internal effects of poison on the body, that does not necessarily mean that I am, or will be, a murderer that uses poison on targets. When we become slaves to the same laws that we created, we become blind to exploring each individual case. To come to an instant conclusion and judge Mr. Bobb because of an existing law, becomes irrational when you think of how else is an artist to study the material and collect info on it. As a visual artist, images are the main tools that one uses. Are we going to get to the point where artists must file applications asking for permission to view 'illegal' images. And then because of the law, automatically be turned down? Is there not a catch-22 set up here? Or are artists simply expected to not touch on delicate or controversial topics? Quite a contradiction, when often, it is the job of the artist to shed light on those topics and cause us all to discuss and question them. Without completing his project, it seems that Mr. Bobb has already succeeded in causing us to discuss topics that need to be discussed. Yet, while already succeeding, I would very much like to see where he was taking his work and what statement he wanted to make concerning the topic of child sexual exploitation/abuse. Should he, as all of us, not be allowed to have his say, and to present it in the manner in which he can best express himself? (I do not know Mr. Bobb, nor have I seen any of his works, yet I support his right as an artist (and also as a 'plain' citizen) to explore the 'undesirable', or taboo, topics.)