PORN. We consume it at unprecedented levels, whether alone or with others, but we generally don’t talk about it and yet it remains our number one resource to learn about sex. It’s virtually unregulated and unmonitored, it’s affordable, accessible and anonymous. Largely, the free, very often extreme or violent, online porn is produced, uploaded and watched by (white cis het) men, perpetuating the male gaze.
But what are the effects of limiting our sexual narratives and visual language to narrow views of often aggressive and performative sex viewed through the male gaze? And what role does this play in rape culture at large?
When porn replaces sex education what is the real-world legacy of a generation raised on free online tube porn sites?
How do racism, ableism and trans/homo/queerphobia infiltrate and influence the porn we watch and what do we internalise from it?
How do we connect the world of online pornography with the sex we have in the privacy of our bedrooms? How has pornography influenced your own sexual experiences and explorations as well as your relationship with yourself and others?
Ethical, queer or female-driven, pleasure-based porn is out there – how do we centre these narratives and create positive, representative, egalitarian pornography?
Is there a way to turn a natural, healthy curiosity about sex into healthy curious sex ed? What effect does porn have on our relationships with each other, our bodies and the bodies of others?
How do we view and value the lives and bodies of the sex workers we see in porn? Does paying for porn make you a better feminist?
As we continue to make ethical choices in many other areas of our lives, be it personal or political, can and will we make ethical choices about our porn too? And what would the legacy of this look like?
Exhibited artists: Florian Hynam – Lydia Durnall – Mario Lautier Vella – Taylor Bull – Sfelez – Sarah-Lou Newman – Unattainable Blonde – Pattern UP
Metropolis Contemporary Art Gallery 