Tag Archives: christopher agostino

YouTube has age-restricted my video and I don’t know why

This is the message you get when YouTube restricts a video:

“The YouTube Community has flagged one or more of your videos as inappropriate. Once a video is flagged, it is reviewed by the YouTube Team against our Community Guidelines. Upon review, we have determined that the following video(s) contain content that may not be suitable for all viewers:  2008 Transformations by Christopher Agostino

As a result, we have age-restricted this content.  For more information on YouTube’s Community Guidelines and how they are enforced, please visit the help center http://www.google.com/support/youtube/bin/answer.py?answer=92486.  “

You can check out the video, or my post about it:

45,000 Views — 2008 Transformations    http://wp.me/p1sRkg-tD

I am very glad that they have only age-restricted it, and not removed it completely. Below is the relevant section of their guidelines, I think, which explains that things deemed inappropriate by Community Guidelines may still be allowed for artistic content with the age-restriction warning.  I was talking just yesterday about online censorship issues (before getting this message) with my very slashdot savvy son, who has a much wider understanding than I do about just how many problem areas there about what some people post, and that therefor there do need to be some lines draw as to what is or isn’t appropriate, especially on a completely open platform like YouTube.

I do remain concerned, as an artist, that judgement on my video here is only in the hands of a “YouTube Team” and they don’t offer me a chance to ask why? Where is their line? What image is ok, what is not? Can I take an image or two out and get the age-restriction removed?

I am also concerned that the process is initiated by some anonymous  viewer deeming my work inappropriate and flagging it by clicking a button. I think that is too easy, clicking a button. I invite whoever flagged it to send me a message explaining what images are inappropriate and why—I’d like to be able to add your side of this to the discussion. Or you can add your viewpoint as  a comment here if you prefer. (I won’t get into a  fight with you, you can say your piece and I’ll leave it at that)

From YouTube’s site:

“When videos violate our Community Guidelines, we remove them. Some videos don’t violate our policies, but may not be appropriate for all audiences. We age-restrict these.  When a video is age-restricted, a warning screen displays before the video plays. Only users 18 years of age or older can then proceed to view the material. In order to reduce the chances of users accidentally stumbling across these videos, they are not shown in certain sections of YouTube (e.g. honors pages like ‘Most Viewed’).

In deciding whether to age restrict content we consider issues such as violence, disturbing imagery, nudity, sexually suggestive content, and portrayal of dangerous or illegal activities.

Notable Exceptions

There are exceptions for some educational, artistic, documentary and scientificcontent (e.g. health education, documenting human rights issues, etc.), but only if this is the sole purpose of the video and it is not gratuitously graphic. For example, a documentary on breast cancer would be appropriate, but posting clips out of context from a documentary might not be. Videos that qualify as educational, artistic, documentary or scientific that would otherwise have been removed are typically age-restricted instead.”

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To see some more possibly inappropriate fine art bodypainting:   https://thestorybehindthefaces.com/body-painting/

A few related posts about censorship of bodypainting images:

84-  Breast Cancer Awareness Body Painting Project  and  SURVIVORS Magazine    http://wp.me/p1sRkg-r0 

85-  Body Painting on TV in a Superbowl Ad, a Good Thing, Right?  http://wp.me/p1sRkg-rx   

86-  What really bothers me about this…  http://wp.me/p1sRkg-rH  

87-  Nipples    http://wp.me/s1sRkg-nipples 

88-  Is this ok, Twitter?    http://wp.me/p1sRkg-sg  

45,000 Views — 2008 Transformations

by Christopher Agostino

I was checking out a colleague’s video on You Tube when I saw one of mine come up in the column of suggested videos, and I was very surprised to see it had 45,811 views, way more than any of the others I’ve posted. [Shortly after this post, it was age restricted on YouTube, so here it is on Vimeo]

2008 was an adventurous year. The impulse to start collecting faces in slideshow videos came in response to a comment by an artist I met while painting at a Parrish Art Museum event. She came in to the gallery where we were painting and told me she had seen our faces all through the village of Southampton on her way to the museum (there’s a few photos in this video from a Parrish Art Museum event.) What she wanted to tell me was that we were creating a “kinetic art form”—particularly, that the style of our facepainting, with very colorful faces and every one different, made her look for them as she saw the painted people moving through the village, wanting to see each face. “kinetic art is art that contains moving parts or depends on motion for its effect. The moving parts are generally powered by wind, a motor or the observer.” (from Wikipedia)

Facepainting at an event is a collective art. It is the sum total of the faces we paint that is the art form, rather than each individual face. Her description of this as a kinetic art had me thinking about this collection of faces in motion, and how to try to document that. That led to creating  “Every Face” videos, in which I photograph every face I paint at an event and put them in to a slideshow in the order painted, and that led to taking a selection to put a year together in 2008.

The music is “I am An Animal” by Pete Townshend. I felt ok using it because he gave it away as a free download on his web site, on an album of odds and ends and some unreleased “Scoop” tracks, which are the demo versions he recorded of his songs as he wrote them before bringing them into the studio to be done by The Who.

See more of our  Videos.

Related articles

New Shows for Library Summer Reading Theme — Dream Big READ

Dream BIG this Summer with Timeless Tales in Two GREAT Shows!

———     SHOW #1:      THE LITTLE MOUSE THAT DREAMED BIG     ——–

Christopher Agostino returns with a special selection of stories for this Summer Reading Club theme. 

The Mouse that becomes an Eagle

Featuring  “The Story of Jumping Mouse”, a traditional Native American folktale that captures the power of our dreams to transform our lives. This inspirational tale, made into a children’s book by John Steptoe, is about a brave little mouse that follows his dream and against all odds reaches the far off  land where he is transformed into a mighty eagle. Plus the show includes other exciting tales that encourage young people to dream big and never give up, brought to life through Christopher’s playful storytelling and amazing facepainting.

Magic Frog gives him his Name

Christopher Agostino’s Transformations Storytelling is a very different kind of a show. Audience volunteers are brought on to the stage and facepainted very quickly to illustrate the stories he tells. The amazing facepainting holds kids attention while they listen to folktales from around the world and his original tales. With his extensive repertoire of stories he can perform successfully for any size audience and any age: kids, teens and adults, and each summer he crafts a new selection of stories to fit the Reading Club Theme. In most shows he paints 8 to 12 volunteers while mesmerizing the audience with a theatrical storytelling style and tales that range from the comic adventure of the first time a man met a crocodile to the heroic tale of the boy Punia and the King of the Sharks. It’s surprising and delightful theater for any age. Several themes are available and special shows can be crafted to feature specific cultures and special topics.  Christopher has appeared on the NBC Today Show and the CBS Early Show and performed for hundreds of theaters, schools, libraries and festivals.

See the Transformations-Storytelling video at:

for additional information and videos see: https://thestorybehindthefaces.com/storytelling-show/

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———  SHOW # 2:      The BODACIOUS Book Show CLASSICS    ———-

Including our special version of Jack and the Beanstalk starring kids from the audience and a 60’ beanstalk!

Beatrice the Bookworm

Beatrice the Bookworm is back in the show that’s so much fun it gets everyone inspired to pick up a book and read. Our Bodacious Book Show Classics edition is all about the books that have kept readers dreaming big for generations, from Dr. Seuss and Charlotte’s Web to timeless fairytales like Jack & the Beanstalk. Also featuring the Quiz Show Game that gets the entire audience thinking and talking about great books:“Have You READ It?”

"Have You READ It?" Quiz Show

This fast paced variety show really gets kids inspired to read, because great books make great readers. It features The “Have You READ It?” Game, a TV-style Quiz Show hosted for laughs by Bob Bookmark and Rita Digest in which the whole audience competes, parents included. It’s great to see kids jumping up and down in their seats with answers to such questions as “What kind of eggs does Sam like with his ham?” The questions and challenges are designed to remind young readers of all the fun they’ve had with books they’ve read and to introduce them to other great books so they’ll want to read more. And we bring to life some funny poetry from great authors such as Shel Silverstein and Ogden Nash.

Jack and the Beanstalk starring audience volunteers: The Magic Dancing Bean

Plus there are special guest stars: Professor Fineprint lectures on “1001 Uses for a Book” (but he doesn’t know you can read them); and the very popular Beatrice the Bookworm enlists younger audiences to join in her pledge to “always read my books before I eat them”. The grand finale is a hilarious rendition of “Jack and the Beanstalk” with kids playing the parts onstage and a 60’ beanstalk growing through the audience. The Bodacious Book Show was created to support reading programs in schools and libraries by reminding kids of the fun books they’ve read and interesting them in new ones, because the best way to develop good readers is to let kids discover books so fun they can’t wait to read more.

CLICK HERE for a printable pdf flyer:  BodaciousBookShow1_Flyer2pgs_agostinoarts  (it opens in a new window, click on the link there to get the pdf)

In 2011, the Bodacious Book Show was selected to host the kick-off celebration for the Target Read Across America literacy initiative at the New York Public Library, and introduce the celebrity readers such as Mark Ruffalo and Uma Thurman.

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SPECIAL DISCOUNTS available forLibrary Performances.

CONTACT US by email: info@agostinoarts.com, or call 516-771-8086

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Agostino Arts Theatre has been presenting programs in schools, libraries, theaters and other venues throughout the Tri-State area for nearly 30 years.

Libraries we appeared at in 2011 include:

Mechanicville Library, Hewlett-Woodmere  Library, Garden City Library, Sayville Library, Atlantic City Free Public Library, Harborfields Library, Wyandanch Public Library, Farmingdale Library, Lynbrook Library, New London Library Festival, East Williston Public Library, Riverhead Public Library, Newburgh Free Library, West Milford Township Library, South Huntington Library, Goshen Public Library, Mastic-Moriches-Shirley Libarary, Burlington Library, Bryant Library, Jamesburg Public Library, Half Hollow Hills Library, West Babylon Library, Rye Free Reading Room, Connetquot Library, Big Flats Library, Horseheads Free Library

When Target planned their launch for the Target Read Across America literacy initiative at the New York Public Library, they asked us to host the kick-off celebration. Beatrice the Bookworm opened the show, then Bob Bookmark and Rita Digest played the exciting “Have You READ It?” Game with the entire audience in between a stellar lineup of celebrity readers, including Uma Thurman and Mark Ruffalo.  http://reading.target.com/read-across-america/

Our Bodacious Book Shows involve the entire audience in the fun

Jack and the Beanstalk - The Singing Golden Harp Duet