Connecting To The World

 When it comes to erotica novels and movies I am NOT anti objectification per se, since that is the job these novels have, to create a scene and exploit a readers fantasy. If that is not someone’s cup of tea they can put the book down or turn off the movie. However when it is out of the context of consented consumption that is what I have an issue with. Consent is the main key here, women who choose to, enjoy, and work in and around the world of objectification be that in the sex industry, romance fiction or modelling can gain personal power in being viewed, or rather than relying on a gaze from someone else, enjoy the self-made power of their body. While I don’t want my work to have a political view to it, since my goal is to explore the use of language and imagery in art and exploit that in order to create mental images for my audience, I believe this falls under the subgenre of feminism which is sex-positivity. As far as I’m concerned on a social level, so long as the activity (be that sexual or not) is between two consenting people, doesn’t cause major harm and isn’t illegal, it’s got nothing to do with me what others do privately. The sex-positive movement is a social and philosophical movement that seeks to change cultural attitudes and norms around sexuality, promoting the recognition of sexuality (in the countless forms of expression) as a natural and healthy part of the human experience and emphasizing the importance of personal sovereignty, safer sex practices, and consensual sex (free from violence or coercion). It covers every aspect of sexual identity including gender expression, orientation, relationship to the body (body-positivity, nudity, choice), relationship-style choice, and reproductive rights. 1 Looking at this in a critical and societal way, the argument of pro and anti-sex feminists led to something called the Feminist Sex Wars. In essence, the sides were characterized by these groups who had disagreements regarding sexuality, including pornography, erotica, prostitution, lesbian sexual practices, the role of transgender women in the lesbian community, sadomasochism and other sexual matters. The feminist movement was deeply divided as a result of these debates. 2 + 3 My work mainly focuses on erotica due to a personal interest, the intimacy of reading and the ability to step into the scene (which is more difficult compared to visual porn for example where both parties are seen leaving no room for the reader to see themselves as one of the characters). A distinction is often made between erotica and pornography (and the lesser-known genre of sexual entertainment, ribaldry), although some viewers may not distinguish between them. A key distinction, some have argued, is that pornography's objective is the graphic depiction of sexually explicit scenes. At the same time, erotica "seeks to tell a story that involves sexual themes" that include a more plausible depiction of human sexuality than in pornography. 4

The image here is a scan of a collage I did which includes my own handwriting (linking to the personal and intimacy of penmanship) and a copy of the painting The Rokeby Venus (/ˈroʊkbi/; also known as The Toilet of Venus, Venus at her Mirror, Venus and Cupid, or La Venus del espejo) by Diego Velázquez. The Rokeby Venus depicts the Roman goddess of love, beauty and fertility reclining languidly on her bed, her back to the viewer—in Antiquity, the portrayal of Venus from a back view was a common visual and literary erotic motif —and her knees tucked. She is shown without the mythological paraphernalia normally included in depictions of the scene; jewellery, roses, and myrtle are all absent. Unlike most earlier portrayals of the goddess, which shows her blond hair, Velázquez's Venus is a brunette.5 The female figure can be identified as Venus because of the presence of her son, Cupid. I picked this image not only because of the beauty of the painting and the woman but also due to the space I had to “rewrite” her into her scene. Her back is stretched out and her “erotic” zones are hidden from the viewer. After cutting a leotard type of shape out of her I introduced a written narrative in order to fill the image in. Cutting out clothes shapes links to the social idea of how women are seen in the media and literature for how they dress. I picked the leotard not only because it is skintight so I won’t lose any of the scenes with it, but in reality a leotard is perfectly acceptable in a dance class or swim class or at a beach (as a swimsuit) but in the middle of the town, for example, it’s not as accepted, like erotica and the objectification of a character, there is an appropriate time and place for it. It is also fun to see “modern” attire on these historic paintings now that societal expectations and acceptance has evolved. 

An interesting quote I found to solidify my recreation and reappropriation of the female form came from Justin Paton (a curator of the exhibition, Nude, at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Sydney in 2016): “The nude fascinates us for a very simple and quite profound reason and that is that its art about us. We all have a body; we’re all fascinated bodies and bodies in the unclothed state.” 6 The quote below by Lena Horne is also something for me to consider. However, it’s more politically charged than perhaps I am comfortable with although through these labels/ descriptions/ views it is as if a woman is wearing them no matter what her attire is. Thinking of this, I feel my work can evolve from using famous artworks to illustrate a written narrative to a wearable artwork as if stepping into the costume of an “erotic” woman based on literature and media descriptions. (Kinda like how some jumpsuits or jogging bottoms have “juicy” or “sexy” on the butt - that is a basic form of wearing a description). These descriptions are out of the realm of literature and therefore transient their context to permeate the every day, making it almost unavoidable and accepted only due to its popularity as if people are blind-sighted or blinkered to it. The adverts from “Don’t Judge a Woman By Her Clothes” are a huge inspiration for this idea. For example, a hoodie perhaps, with a description of women’s hair on the hood, women’s arms on the arms and her chest on the chest in order to wear it. If I use an oversized hoodie it could have a second under the message of comfort over sexiness. I for one definitely choose comfort over appearance and I’ve been known to live in hoodies, not to hide my body but to keep snug and warm. 

1 "A Sex Positive Renaissance". Allena Gabosch. 2014-12-08.

2 Vance, Carole S (1989). Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality. Thorsons Publishers. ISBN 978-0-04-440593-1. 

3 Hansen, Karen Tranberg; Philipson, Ilene J. (1990). Women, class, and the feminist imagination: a socialist-feminist reader. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-0-87722-630-7. 

4  "Erotica Is Not Pornography". William J. Gehrke. The Tech. December 10, 1996. 

5 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rokeby_Venus#cite_ref-P51_8-1 

6 https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20161129-why-the-nude-still-shocks 

---