El blog de Erika Lust

Destination Sex City es un site que se basa en la idea que la pornografía es una arte, y que como tal,  puede producir material que sea excitante tanto para la mente como para el cuerpo. Han reunido diseñadores y artistas de animación para producir nueve clips que reclaman ser el inicio de la “meta-pornografía”.  Las piezas son una fusión de erotismo, animación y psicodelia acompañadas de una banda sonara de synth-pop sensual.

Si quieres saber mas, más abajo tienes toda una entrevista (¡en ingles! sorry!!!) con el artista de la ultima edicion del magazine Knickers Forever de Agent Provocateur.

Q: What is the origin of Destination Sex City? How did it get started?

A: I’ve been working on this project for several years and it includes photographic works, musical works, film imagery and animation. In the last year or two, I’ve been introduced to a lot of young artists who use computers and techniques that have replaced the very painstaking animation work from the past. And so Destination Sex City is taking a new form now – one which is very suitable to the world wide web. And we’ve designed a site that becomes the environment in which you can watch my work.

Q: Can you describe the “environment” of your website?

A: So the way it works is that you go to the site, and there are a few layers to get through. It’s an unusual experience, so rather than spoiling it I’m hoping that people will be curious and figure it out on their own. I want them to go the site and see all there is to experience there.

Q: Can’t you give us a hint about what we might find?
A: Part of the experience is a group of short films which I call “Eroticlips” that are available for download for a few dollars each and are very suitable for your iPod or other modern devices. So that’s something you will find if you go to the site and get to its inner sanctum.

Q: Having looked at your previous work, your references seem to include Allen Jones and the ’70’s British airbrush style. Can you tell us a bit about your influences, and how they played into this recent work?

A: It’s true that there are some colleagues that you mention that work with similar themes and imagery and I’m flattered to be included with other artists that work in that form… but it’s hard for me to talk about my work in specific terms. I’d prefer it if people would just look at it and judge it for themselves.

Q: Because your work is erotic, I was wondering how you feel about eroticism in our culture?

A: Well, I feel that American culture is by and large quite puritanical – to its detriment. I was not born in this country, so I have proclivities that relate to other cultures that I feel more connected to. But I think the human form – and in my case, the female form – is particularly intoxicating and beautiful and provocative and intriguing. And obviously I’m not the only person that feels this way.

Q: But given the puritanical nature of American culture, do you think people will?

A: I think that there’s a lot of interest in this kind of material and there’s nothing shameful about it. And of course it’s intended for an adult experience. But I think erotic material has fascinated humans since time immemorial and it’s a fact that some of the earliest human expression in terms of the arts, whether it be cave painting or sculptures or pottery, often depicted nudity and sexual imagery. So I think it’s quite interesting that as technology progresses one can generally look towards pornography as the most avant-garde visual form that tends to be on the cutting edge of how imagery and art can be displayed. And we’ve seen that with photography, we’ve seen that with motion pictures, and we see it now with the computer trends that are happening with the internet.

Q: I agree. The internet is changing things.

A: I think it’s exciting to be a part of it. I’m just learning about these venues and forms where we can display ideas and its exciting to me to feel like I’m involved in exploring some new territory of ways to present visual material – and in this case erotic material.

Q: In your view, what’s the difference between pornography and what you do?

A: Popular pornography is quite unappealing in its lack of imagination. Im the only person in the world making visually graphic erotica that’s a turn-on and not repulsive – or just doesn’t have any balls. Erotic usually doesn’t go very far, it doesn’t show the human body – its quite timid. And I think there’s a place and anyone who sees the work that I’ve done in its entirety will agree that it’s the most visually graphic but artful, imaginative and tastefully done erotic pornography that’s ever been created.

Q: As you’ve said, this project is tailored for the internet, but do you intend to release any other related media?

A: Of course. There are other forms that it will be taking in terms of fine art prints and more expanded cinemagraphic work, but I’m not really able to talk about it all at this time.

Q: Can you go into more detail about your “Eroticlips” and what they actually consist of?

A: Well for me, I’m very interested in motion pictures and in the ’80s we saw an interesting trend of music video production. Very visually orientated material – short films that were quite imaginative – and in a way, an Eroticlip is not far from that form. It’s generally a three or four minute piece that has a narrative component but is largely visual in nature, and has an erotic element to it.

Q: You agreed to do this interview under the condition of anonymity. Why aren’t you using your name?

A: Well, it’s a bit of a tradition to us the title of ‘anonymous’ when making a provocative work – especially sexual in nature. In our culture now there’s a bit of a cult of personality. A quote I’m intrigued by comes from an ancient Chinese monk who said “critics judge with their ears and not with their eyes” – meaning that people want to hear about who made the work before they really look at it. And to me this is really true today – that we’re fascinated by personalities… who did this, their background, their life story. I would prefer to let the work stand on its own and intrigue people… or not.

Q: Could you tell me a little bit about the process of making these pieces?

A: Well I’m attracted to various styles and of course with each different style there are different techniques and different collaborators that I work with. Of course I’ve been working with many collaborators to execute this work over many years and each clip and each piece, each component, has been with a specialist in that area or with a collaborator that helps me achieve what I’m looking for.

The whole concept is a bit of a dreamscape of imagery – like something you’d come across in a dream – and so I’ll have a basic concept and then I’ll flesh it out with certain sketches and storyboards and finding reference maternal and making visual material that I can show to these various technicians and artists that can actually help me fabricate the works.

Q: And your choice to self-publish and self-distribute – how did that come about?

A: Well thi has been an intensely private project that I’ve worked on in secrecy, and it’s been important to me to not compromise in any way. I’ve long been against the whole gallery scene, and prefer not to get in relationships that force you do things that go against the spirit of your work. And because this work is somewhat far out and outrageous in its way, I feel very grateful that now with the internet, there’s a wonderful place for it to be shown.

Q: If you were to see this work, how would you rate it?

A: I think it’s fucking far out and it really turns me on!