UBC Press Ruling Out Art: Media Art Meets Law in Ontario’s Censor Wars (Law and Society)

In the 1980s, the Ontario Board of Censors began to subject media artists’ work to the same cuts, bans, and warning labels as commercial film. This innovative exploration of how art and law intersected in the ensuing censor wars turns a spotlight on the powerful role that artists can play in the administration of culture. When artists and their anti-censorship allies mounted grassroots protests and entered courts of law, they impacted how the province interpreted freedom of expression. The language of the law in turn shaped the way artists conceived of their own practices. Review For artists and institutions directly involved in the censorship struggles of the 1980s, Taryn Sirove’s Ruling Out Art is a well-researched study which demonstrates that their efforts were not completely in vain. This book is an excellent addition to the media and censorship historiography in Canada and will introduce a new generation to the culture wars around censorship and gay rights that were central to artists’ concerns of the late 1970s through to the 1990s – many of which persist today. Author: Bruce Barber, professor of media arts, art history and contemporary culture, NSCAD University From the Author Taryn Sirove is an art historian and independent curator based in Toronto. Her research focuses on contemporary art in Canada, particularly new media work and policy frameworks for the regulation of media art. She is the co-editor of Museopathy Revisited: Artist Interventions in Canada and Beyond. About the Author Taryn Sirove is an art historian and independent curator based in Toronto. Her research focuses on contemporary art in Canada, particularly new media work and policy frameworks for the regulation of media art.