In a series of paintings dating from 2008, artist Lucas Grogan attracted the ire of artists and curators for appropriating Arnhem Land rock art motifs. These works, including Yeah Babe, Its Been A Tough Night Out (2010), You’ve Been Out All Night Babe (2010) and Spit It Out Babe (2011), used cross-hatched patterning resembling Arnhem Land rarrk, as well as spirit figures resembling the mimis (figs 1–3). They were also cut to simulate the rough edges of bark paintings from the region. Fellow artists withdrew from being represented by Grogan’s gallery, curators withdrew from working on exhibitions in which he was included, his work was withdrawn from exhibitions and competitions, and he was personally threatened and warned not to do it again. Critiques posted on personal blogs and Facebook were vehement. While the appropriation of Indigenous motifs goes some way towards explaining the reaction, the collision of sexualised spirit figures with online opinion-making intensified it. As Grogan reports, ‘80% of the hate mail I received was gay related’. While Grogan’s paintings have precedents, not only in the history of appropriation but in a more specific history of eroticism around rock art motifs, they were also exhibited in a world transformed by the internet-affected culture of the twenty-first century. To begin, it is worth returning to the critiques of Grogan in order to establish the reasoning behind the controversy. There are two types of criticism of his work. The first lies in the artist’s ‘flagrant disregard for Aboriginal copyright’. As artist TextaQueen writes, ‘I don’t think it’s his story to be telling and I think he’s trading on controversy’. Artist Tony Albert is most succinct when he writes on Facebook that ‘Rarrk has meaning, it has purpose and it has ownership. Like the land it was never surrendered, sold or traded. Rarrk designs relate to ceremony and refer to people’s spiritual identity and connection to country.’ Canadian and M etis artist David Garneau complains:

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卢卡斯·格罗根 (Lucas Grogan) 与原住民艺术的情色

在 2008 年的一系列画作中，艺术家卢卡斯·格罗根 (Lucas Grogan) 因挪用阿纳姆地 (Arnhem Land) 岩石艺术图案而引起了艺术家和策展人的愤怒。这些作品，包括Yeah Babe、Its Being A Tough Night Out (2010)、You've Being Out All Night Babe (2010) 和Spit It Out Babe (2011)，使用了类似阿纳姆地壳的交叉影线图案，以及类似于 mimis 的灵魂人物（图 1-3）。它们还被切割以模拟该地区树皮画的粗糙边缘。其他艺术家退出了格罗根画廊的代理，策展人退出了包括他在内的展览，他的作品被撤出展览和比赛，他个人受到威胁并警告不要再这样做了。在个人博客和 Facebook 上发布的批评非常激烈。虽然对土著主题的挪用在某种程度上解释了这种反应，但性感精神人物与在线舆论的碰撞加剧了这种反应。正如 Grogan 报道的那样，“我收到的 80% 的仇恨邮件都与同性恋有关”。虽然格罗根的画作有先例，不仅在挪用历史上，而且在围绕岩石艺术主题的更具体的情色历史中，它们也在一个被 21 世纪受互联网影响的文化改变的世界中展出。首先，值得回到对格罗根的批评，以确立争议背后的推理。对他的作品有两种批评。首先在于艺术家“公然无视土著版权”。正如艺术家 TextaQueen 所写，“我不认为要讲述他的故事，我认为他是在利用争议进行交易”。艺术家托尼·阿尔伯特 (Tony Albert) 在 Facebook 上写道，“Rarrk 有意义、有目的且有所有权”时，他最为简洁。就像土地一样，它从未被交出、出售或交易。Rarrk 设计与仪式有关，并指人们的精神身份和与国家的联系。加拿大和梅蒂斯艺术家 David Garneau 抱怨道：