Artistic nude, as is with most art, cannot simply be defined. However pornographic depictions in many cases can border on being illegal.

Since 2000, deviantART has been serving the art community by becoming the largest online alley for artists, photographers, writers and designers. The site receives over 100,000 submissions a day, which are then filtered through 17 main categories and hundreds of subcategories; one of these sub categories, of course, being artistic nude.

DeviantART is a commercial site with an appeal to all age groups so the rules for submitting artistic nudes are explicitly stated in the Terms of Service agreement. In short, deviantART bans artwork that is pornographic in nature, stating that submissions cannot depict sexual intercourse, sexual body fluids, erections, etc.

However, a look into the actual Artistic Nude section of the site will tell users a different story. The section contains copious amounts of pornographic artwork, low-resolution webcam “photography” and exploitive “Myspace” shots.

Most of these works can be found in the “recently uploaded” section, but what’s worse is there are actual groups dedicated to breaking deviantART’s rules. Most notably is a group called “Lip — Service.” The double entendre is an invitation for users to post their depictions of vaginal spreading, a serious violation of the terms of service. The page has over 15,000 views and yet it seems to have gone unnoticed by DA’s administrative staff.

The problem perhaps is that hosting a site with 13 million registered users requires a lot of watchdogs. But when the decision to mark artwork as mature is left entirely up to the artist, it is easy to see how problems start.

When the photography side of things is concerned, no model releases are required with work submission. Since this is the case, no one can be sure if the subject of a photograph is of legal age.

Much of the controversy is due in part to the site’s loopholes, but N.C. State’s students offer that the artists share the responsibility as well.

“Artistic nude falls into the realm of something expressive. As for sexually explicit art, you can still express sexual themes that aren’t explicit,” Justin Phillips, a junior in art and design, said.  ”You can’t generalize the problem and it’s really a case by case basis. Unless someone complains, there’s really nothing you can do. However this should still be taken seriously,” Phillips said.

Alyssa McNamara, a junior and textile technology, also shared a similar opinion.

“I think figure is artistic and there’s nothing wrong with nude figures. But a figure’s actions can make it easy to cross the line,” McNamara said. “It takes a more mature mind to understand this art but administrators should still watch the site more carefully.”

Adrienne Johnston, a junior in design and textile technology, said there is a difference between naked and the nude, and there is a very fine line between them. This is why the topic is controversial.

“I once heard an artist describe how he viewed the difference in which nakedness is you getting out of the bath; the nude is a category that is created for us in art. If the site already has rules in place, then I think they should go back and enforce them,” Johnston said.

Kathleen Reider, an assistant professor of art and design, said she is all for artistic freedom.

“But in design, there comes responsibility,” Reider said. “Let’s draw an example from Half the Sky; the subjects in the book are hard to depict but when people are dehumanized, it’s a problem. I think it’s commendable to educate people about this aspect.”

Reider knows what it comes down to, and it’s simply to spread the word.

Even though art is free expression, an effort is being made by many users to help clean up the clutter. Anyone with a deviantART account can report obscene images and in some instances encourage the ban of abusive users.

Students at N.C. State have spoken and the verdict is in. The art world does have standards — even in a subject as atypical as nudity – and students know where to draw the line between art and trash.