About 10 years ago I had a friend in college who was the most. He was so cool and prettier than me and we had the most fun concocting these totally absurd a crazy what-if fantasies that would last for days. I remember one had us ultimately married for the sake of something I can't remember now and I would wear only my black lace-up boots and an apron and have dinner ready when he came home from a day at the office. It was something that kept us laughing for hours.
I was super sad when for reasons too personal and not all bad we weren't close the way we we used to be. But for a couple years, it was the best fun I may have ever had.
We spent a semester working on a 'collaborative' project photographing the nightlife in some local gay clubs. He had a few 'ins' and sometimes we'd set up illegally, which was really a challenge because many people lead double lives and the sight of a camera causes extreme anxiety and anger. Of course, sometimes it inspires intense hamming.
July 16, 2011
Who Knew?
So I was just watching a short documentary about different genres of porn. Interspersed were snippets of old films (meaning dating all the way back to silent) that show examples of gay pornography. It was no great surprise to see the two women together while a man peeked at the key hole watching them.
The big surprise was the examples of gay male porn. There were no (accurate?) scenes of kissing, penetration or obvious acts of sexual engagement. Rather, there would be scenes of men flexing their muscles in unison (I assume to create a psychological rhythm of being in sync) or naked men doing acrobatics, sit ups and so forth.
Is it odd that I found the repressed male gay porn to be vastly more erotic and suggestive than seeing the literal actions as shown by the women? Or 'normal' as a heterosexual female? This is not to say that I think gay male culture should be repressed, or was better in the 'old ways.' But I think it speaks to something more subtle about image, voyeurism and imagination.
Sometimes less is more, and sometimes real women like to LOOK and not touch. I am reminded of a conversation I had with a colleague for months about creating tension in work. Tension can be sexual, horrific or anxious. It can add so much to work by implying meaning without showing the 'money shot.' The viewer is left to fill in the blanks and see the total action in a way that completes their experience, but the artist has directed the motion.
This completion of an inferred action or idea by the viewer from the artist is a heady relationship and activates the work in a way that is paramount to sparking dialogue and giving the work deeper 'meaning.'
Otherwise, the artist can make a lovely surface that may please a viewer in a voyeuristic way (maybe like much of the overly spelled out pornucopia of mediated culture) but which leaves the viewer free to move on to the next. In and out. Wham bam thank you m'am.
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