Note: In honor of the last few days of the Sun in Pisces, we’re posting the CREATE astro-brief from the March 7 premium membership mailing. Enjoy! — Amanda
In the mood for a good… read?
Clayton Cubitt’s video art series, entitled Hysterical Literature, portrays female subjects reading literature aloud while being simultaneously masturbated with a Hitachi Magic Wand vibrator, out of the frame and therefore unseen by the viewer. The reading session lasts until the woman reaches orgasm — the longest so far being 11 minutes and 42 seconds (but it’s not a competition).
Cubitt launched the project in August 2012, featuring women (some famous, some not) each reading aloud from a book that’s personally important to her, including classics like Leaves of Grass and A Clockwork Orange and newer works such as Necrophilia Variations by Supervert. The videos are shot with no nudity and no other participants in the scene, just the woman and her book. “And that allowed me to poke fun at the idea that our mind is somehow ‘better’ or more ‘us’ than our body,” notes Cubitt in an article at The Daily Beast. “How nobly we view the act of reading, compared to the act of sex.”
That nobility is questionable given the romance novel industry and the frequency with which ‘literary’ books have been banned for including ‘frank’ subject matter. Even more questionable, though, are cultural relationships to female sexual pleasure, even now in the 21st century, when graphic violence is more likely to make it past the movie censors than, say, a woman receiving oral sex. Our cultural injury around sex underlies one of the reasons Cubitt has disabled comments on these videos since the beginning: “Sex has a tendency to make smart people dumb. So does visual art in general, though. Most of us aren’t taught how to write intelligently about visual art, much less depictions of sex in art.”
Cubitt continues, “The sex is hidden. The viewer would have to object to the very concept of sex to object to Hysterical Literature. And in so doing, what does that say about them?”
What, indeed?
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DivaCarla, thank you for such a warm response. That was special for me. Thank you too Amanda, I appreciate you chiming in.
“…so we notice our own reactions, mine them for insight and explore them and question them, and see what it says about places within ourselves that seem to be asking for a voice, and for us to hear ourselves, and for our compassion.” Yes. Wise and sensitive words, Amanda. In fact, I did stop and question my reactions to this, the sense of it being voyeuristic, and when I looked more closely I found that it brought up deep (and fairly hidden), childhood sexual trauma – which is coming up a lot for me right now to be healed. So this has been a great catalyst really.
carla — taking a cue from your comments on witnessing, i love this quotation from Corbitt’s website, written by one of the participants in the project:
“PS: To my parents (who I know will read this), I hope that you are as proud of me as I am of myself. I pray that you see the merit, the revolution that I am a part of, the importance of this project.”
-Solé’s thoughts on her session [Session 06]
I think that sort of perspective is part of what attracted me to the project, along with some of the other ideas i wrote about in the original post with elizabeth: that for some, the act of being witnessed in our sexuality and expression is hugely valuable. it might not be quite the same as other forms of spiritual/energetic healing that are more internal or introspective or private. but for some who have struggled with guilt or shame or feeling invisible around their sexual expression, i can see how making oneself visible via a surprising art project that provokes questions might have an aspect of healing to it.
i’m not saying that is the case for everyone who has something to heal around sexuality, but i allow that it could be true for some.
after all, we have *no* idea what the inner experience of each of these women is as they do this. we know our reactions to the videos; we know whatever we might be compelled to project onto them. but we can’t know what is really going on for them as they do this, or later, when they watch themselves.
so we notice our own reactions, mine them for insight and explore them and question them, and see what it says about places within ourselves that seem to be asking for a voice, and for us to hear ourselves, and for our compassion.
i’m grateful for the conversation springing up around this thread… good questions and thoughts to consider…
Daniel, I appreciate the questions you raise, and that you are a man raising them. So valuable, and as a woman I feel valued by your response.
At first, I’d have said that one of the values in this project is in the artist’s words quoted above: Cubitt continues, “The sex is hidden. The viewer would have to object to the very concept of sex to object to Hysterical Literature. And in so doing, what does that say about them?”
As is often pointed out here, a critical mass of our culture does indeed object to the concept of sex, and it’s time to flip that.
On the other hand, some people may object to the project for different reasons, from their personal perspective. Thank you for voicing yours!
For me, this project is an opportunity for witnessing a real woman in real orgasm, through and as art. Witnessing in this case is a receiving, and is distinguished from voyeurism, which is a taking. For another person, the response can be just the opposite. It’s art. It provokes response and comment.
When I share this in my communities, I’ll bring a new depth and inquiry to it. Again, bowing to your courage in speaking out, Daniel.
But Daniel, you are putting shoulds around it. You’re saying that orgasm needs to be honored as energetically & spiritually meaningful, and that an expression other than that has less value. While I’m all for deep spiritual change, sometimes orgasm can have value just because it makes you giggle. Like today’s oracle says, art is subversive — if it challenges your values, maybe there is room for exploration in there. I, for one, am not about to denigrate an orgasm that “just” makes me deliciously happy.
Thank you Lizzy, I agree with you on all your points! Just one sentence came to me last night after my last comment, and I’ll leave this as I don’t want to hijack this posting: That this is an expression of our soundbite society.
Thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts here everyone.
Hi there – just want to quickly chip in – not much time to write – I think that an orgasm can be something sublimely beautiful and intimate but it can also be a physical or mental release – it can be so many things – as Strawberry said, it’s necessary to get rid of the shoulds. But what got me about this project was the voyeuristic element, man filming woman as she reaches orgasm really bothered me, didn’t give me a sense of freedom, must say (though there are many things about it I liked), but maybe that’s because I’m working through a lot of my fears around men right now. Anyway, many thanks Daniel for being so honest about your feelings about it.
Thank you Strawberry. I didn’t really intend to put “shoulds” around the concept of pleasure, in this case sexual. So, I agree totally with you. I am also very much in favour of receiving and opening up to our individual rhythm. I am totally out there when it comes to putting a voice on my sexuality and I am passionate about freeing any sexual restrictions on myself. This thing bothered me, I can’t help it. There is something beautiful about orgasm. And I don’t feel it’s handled with respect here. I don’t find it erotic at all. I’ll give a personal recount here. A few years ago, I read an article somehow linked with Eric or Planet Waves that the moment just after an orgasm contains a mental space where a lot of energy can enter. Energy, like ideas or stories or past memories. That to nourish this space is a very critical moment for sexual healing. I’m sorry if I have the particular language off a bit but that’s pretty much it. So this piece throws that all away for me. It’s like, “I’m having my orgasm…okay, now it’s done and I couldn’t continue reading my book anymore.”
Perhaps it’s not about healing or anything like that at all and I’m getting all worked up for nothing. Perhaps it’s simply about nothing: a bit of reading, a bit of pleasure. Thank you, you can go home now, it’ll be on Youtube in the morning. Perhaps that’s why I don’t get it at all.
Daniel, while I love your perspective on orgasm, I think putting “shoulds” around it — either one way or another — limits the range of human experience. I loved this project for the way it freed the female orgasm from being about the other. These women’s bodies were receiving in their own ways and opening according to their unique rhythms.
For me, the fewer “shoulds” we put around pleasure, the better.
Thanks Elizabeth for jumping in there. I totally understand your point and the angle you mean. But I am simply offended by this project. I know I’m probably being uptight and reacting from a more serious angle and a hurt place than I should – but I also don’t think I’m the only one. What I find offensive is the sense I get that the orgasm is trivialized into something that can be achieved without effort, without participation, without any real regard to the intimacy and the beauty that that experience should be regarded. This is not porn, it’s something else. Porn is all out there, in your face and not pretending to be anything but porn. This is def different. As he says, “he like’s to fuck with people”. Sure, I was amused and I even smiled. Then I felt a personal reflective moment that made me unappreciative of the actual journey of orgasm. There are plenty of women and even some men who take and need a lot of time and care to reach orgasm. These videos throw all that out on the curb and put a whole lot of pressure and competitiveness into the viewers mindset that is VERY unhealthy. We have enough bullshit ads telling us how to dress and how our bodies should look. This is far too much for me to consider a step along the path toward sexual liberation and healing.
Hey, maybe I’m missing something. I welcome any input.
Hello everyone! I wanted to reply to Daniel’s comment, which was really interesting.
Just to clarify, though, it wasn’t really Amanda bringing up the idea of competition. I had helped write the piece, and I thought it was a funny aspect of the project, which was brought up in the original Daily Beast article– specifically that the women in the videos continued reading until they reached orgasm. To quote the article, “The session lasts as long as the reader.”
I only thought of it as a humorous angle, not at all to allude to any type of sexual competition amongst women or men.
I really want to know why this is bothering me….. There is something brave here, unabashed and honest. There is also something that is not sitting right with me. It’s interesting Amanda that you brought up the idea of competition.
I do love this project. It’s time to share again.
i rather enjoyed this piece last week and made sure to share it. found out from a couple of (male) friends who’d already seen it, that there are male parodies – not quite as funny, or hot, but (can be) humorous nonetheless (tho i’d rather see their version of it too).
Oops! So sorry for not noticing it was you, dear Amanda! Many thanks to you and Elizabeth for this.
Glad to hear it, lizzy! another PW writer named Elizabeth and I tag-teamed writing this up. My only complaint about the project is that the volume is so low in the video of Stoya, it’s hard to hear what she’s reading — and I really wanted to hear the words!
Yes. I really like the FAQ page of this website. Very interesting idea, love the black and white photography, really works for me. As so often happens, I find myself kicking off with a conventional, judgemental reaction and then just watching this reaction, questioning it and finally relaxing and opening up to another level of understanding. And as so often happens, I find I learn most from the things that make me uncomfortable. Thank you Eric.
“Everything is art, when its [sic] done right.”
http://hystericalliterature.com/faq