Perpetual Oversharing: Sex and Rage
Anna Davies
Figure 1.
"An Act of Performance (One Night Stand), 2019."
Scuba diving fabric, wood, batteries, lightbulb, bricks and motors.
Dimensions variable.
In the work “An act of a performance. (One Night Stand)” I explore the performance of casual sex, specifically a one night stand. I find the concept of casual sex and one night stands very interesting as a common case-study for human behaviour. It’s almost like a pre-rehearsed dance routine that two strangers perform together. There’s a routine to the act but it is rarely discussed beforehand you both know how it works. Similar to other ritualised behaviour, there are ‘do’s and don’ts. It can be extremely lonely yet doing one of the most intimate acts you can with another person. This type of inhibited behaviour contradicts the common perception of natural human desires or cravings and provokes the conditions for making this work. As a woman, this is a taboo subject I wanted to voice. Elizabeth Grosz writes “Until female genital and women’s bodies are inspired and lived (by the subject and by others) as a positivity, there will always remain paradoxes and upsetting implications from any notion of femininity.” (Grosz. 1994. Volatile Bodies. pg 73)
Figure 2.
"Ooops did I overshare, again?"
Memory foam, repurposed cushion, wood, batteries, motors.
Dimensions: 120cmx60cm
My work explores the normalisation of pain that girls are taught from a young age comes along with having a female body, In my work Ooops did I over share, again? I refer to the pain and discomfort often experienced during sex as well as the pain associated with having a womb. PubMed have almost five times as many clinical trials on male sexual pleasure as female sexual pain, why? Because we live in a culture that sees female pain as normal and male pleasure as a right. The term ‘bad sex’ for a man is usually used to describe a boring experience or a passive partner. Whereas when most women talk about ‘bad sex’ they tend to mean persuasion, or emotional discomfort, or even more commonly, physical pain. Although young women often get labelled as crude or accused of oversharing for discussing sex, I hope my work starts conversations about sex that could destigmatise this topic.
Figure 3
"Why get complicated? you know you wanna turn me on."
Repurposed table, foam, latex, denim, linear actuator, wood, batteries.
Dimensions: 200cmx180cm