# Is this an artistic statement or just pandering? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 26, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697 "2013-09-26T02:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/1 "2013-09-26T02:35:08Z")
Re this article: [noparse][http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/09/23/maria-brinks-butt-adorns-in-this-moments-whore-single-art[/noparse]](http://www.metalsucks.net/2013/09/23/maria-brinks-butt-adorns-in-this-moments-whore-single-art%5B/noparse%5D) (not entirely SFW) the female singers nude, very shapely rear end is being used to promote the bands new release. The band is [In This Moment](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_This_Moment). > [@](#): > > “I decided to pose nude for the visual art for ‘Whore’ to evoke a raw vulnerable emotion. The word WHORE written down my back, and the dunce cap symbolize me placing myself on the stake for those who are suffering and I can only hope to encourage at least one person to find the self worth and love they deserve to transcend out of a painful situation into a beautiful one. It is about finding our power and taking a stand. We are resilient beings and need to realize our incredible strengths. I will not bow down to others perceptions of me; I will only rise in the name of art, love and music.” ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/2 "2013-09-26T02:45:38Z")
Artistic statement. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/3 "2013-09-26T08:37:47Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Artistic statement. What (s)he said. It is no more “pandering” than the song itself. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/4 "2013-09-26T09:03:01Z")
Why can’t it be both? ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/5 "2013-09-26T09:36:53Z")
Try a Google image search on Maria Brink; you’ll see that artistic statements aren’t uncommon for her. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/6 "2013-09-26T10:32:00Z")
**astro** : thanks for the warning about not being safe for workplace. I’ve broken the link so no one clicks by accident. For those unaware: we want to offer some minimal protection for those reading at work, to avoid accidentally clicking on a website that looks very awkward if your boss is walking by at the moment. We’re not trying to censor where you go deliberately, we just want to avoid inadvertent. This particular picture isn’t that horrible (rear nudity) but it’s not the sort of thing I’d want my boss to notice. And Murphy’s Law says… ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/7 "2013-09-26T11:10:58Z")
It’s just marketing. ---
**Author:** ![Longshanks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Longshanks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Longshanks)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/8 "2013-09-26T11:59:53Z")
Is there a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/9 "2013-09-26T13:11:24Z")
From article: > [@](#): > > The word WHORE written down my back, and the dunce cap symbolize me placing myself on the stake for those who are suffering and I can only hope to encourage at least one person to find the self worth and love they deserve to transcend out of a painful situation into a beautiful one. Besides taking me about five readings to parse that, I don’t really see it. She posed nude in band promo material with the word & cap (which is “placing herself on the stake”?) to encourage people to find self worth and love? I won’t speak for her motives because I have no idea who she is but there has to be better ways to encourage people in “painful situations” to “transcend”. I was a little tickled at the Women Honoring One (another) Rising Eternally bit. That would be terribly contrived even without the rather important dropped word. But WHOARE sounds like the pronunciation Frank uses in _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/10 "2013-09-26T13:58:43Z")
Maria Brink is a very, very attractive woman who has never been shy about using her looks to promote her band or herself. She’s been featured in more “Hot Women of Rock/Metal” photo spreads than I can remember. The problem is that her band’s music is pretty crappy, IMO. It’s really just pop music with the trappings of metal draped over it (distorted guitars, etc.). Oh sure, they started off as a kind of crappy metalcore band that was only notable for having a female lead singer, but their second album saw the record company bring in producer Kevin Churko and since then the band’s output has been dressed-up pop music. ETA: I’m gonna go with pandering. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/11 "2013-09-26T22:38:19Z")
From Google, it looks like a more artsy/ballsy statement would be to put one of the other band members nude, since it looks like very few people would want to see them nude. I have no problem believing that she is sincere and thinks it’s art, but then it’s sometimes hard to tell. I have artists on Facebook who’s postings either suggest they are trying hard to be “artsy” or else have a few screws loose. Art is all in the eye of the beholder, but I am certain the cover won’t hurt sales. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2013, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/12 "2013-09-27T00:01:24Z")
Crap photography. Didn’t even get her boobs symmetrical. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Subterraneanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Subterraneanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subterraneanus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2013, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-this-an-artistic-statement-or-just-pandering/669697/13 "2013-09-29T17:29:24Z")
Who?