I haven’t updated this blog in a while so here I am but in the interest of keeping the post count down I’m just gonna squeeze most things in to one or two rambles instead of lots of little ones !
I have been busy though. The show preparation is ticking along slowly in the background although after talking to Rafaella, the director of Metropolis Gallery we think for the moment it is too early to go too hard on the call for artists since the show isn’t until November. I have been contacting some artists as I discover people who’s work seems to fit the subject and had great responses so far. Interestingly this has uncovered a similar divide by age or generation in the viewpoints and feelings about porn from some of the artists that you get from talking to people. Older generations are much more anti-porn than younger ones and this can sometimes be a bit of a barrier but I am very keen to try and encourage all kinds of artists and perspectives. Something I also feel needs attention here is finding more male artists and people of colour to participate as at the moment the discourse and the art are both quite cis-het white female based. I also have the artist Unattainable Blond lined up to do a zine making workshop during the month of the show.
I have had some really wonderful meetings with stakeholders recently, which is where my attention has been focused. Reaching out to them to book them in for recorded interviews and starting the initial conversations has been a mix of very successful or something of a struggle so far. A few of them started out very keen and then seem to have dropped out of communication for whatever reason so I am preparing a second wave of people to try and contact and talk to. Those I have spoken with however are very interested, excited and supportive of what I am trying to do which is great. I have interviews booked with the co-ordinator of The P Conversation Avril Louise Clarke (Part of ethical porn producer Erika Lust Productions huge platform) , Sarah Sproule a family therapist and sex educator and Cindy Gallop of the groundbreaking Make Love Not Porn platform. These will all be edited into podcasts. I have recorded one already with curator and art facilitator Olga Murphy where we discussed the film “Pleasure” by film maker Ninja Thyberg (an independent movie exploring a young woman’s journey into a porn career that looks at many interesting themes and was heavily and carefully researched for years before filming began). The discussion was great and now I have learned how to record properly I am now working on editing the recording into a working podcast. The stakeholders showed an interest in me providing some images to structure the conversation around so alongside researching more about their work I am also putting together some images that can be used to further the conversations around the respective themes. In particular the book (and accompanying podcast – which was great to see a similar structure to what I am doing being implemented) “A Woman’s Right To pleasure” has been a great resource. It compiles interesting and relevant art works with essays by people like Erica Jong, Erika Lust and Nadya Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot.
I have also had a great meeting with H Howitt, a phd researcher at Sussex uni whose area of expertise is explorations in to trans sex lives but who also has a long background and relationship to sex work and ethical pornography. They have given me some wonderful new avenues to explore and contacts to reach out to as well as being keen to participate in the show and events too. It was so great to speak to someone who really knows a lot about what I have been exploring and someone who can help me navigate the sex work industry and all its nuances. I’m really looking forward to more conversations with them.
Tonight I am off to a Wow Festival event (Women of the World is a huge annual festival at the Royal Festival hall that I attend every year) Interestingly in all my years going there they’ve never had any events or panels that focus on porn and given all their vital activism around VAWG I find that quite misguided really. I think some of this is because feminist discourse around sex work can be quite divisive (see my earlier comment about generational gaps!) but it’s a very important and much needed conversation. In preparation for the festival WoW hold “think-ins” where they invite people to contribute ideas so I am off to try and convince them to look at porn – no pun intended!