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News & ArtsThursday, March 26, 2009
Arts / City / Sex Here Is the Poster
Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Mar 26, 2009 at 9:38 AM
...for the 2009 Seattle Erotic Art Festival.
2
Um, what? I think they were going for "Things that look like vaginas are sexy!" Instead they got, "You can't open a vagina without first opening your wallet." How is that erotic?
4
Yeah, it's nice when vaginas are made equal with things we stuff money in. That doesn't make me feel like me and my vag are just objects for consumption and purchase and ownership AT ALL!
(And no, ECB didn't tell me to say that - we just see eye to eye.)
(And no, ECB didn't tell me to say that - we just see eye to eye.)
7
@2 and 4, i think you might be reading way too much into this image. i don't even think it is a wallet, i think it's a brief case. but in any event, it's an image that's intended to resemble a vagina without anyone, like the AFA or whatever, being able to get upset. the actual identity of the object is, to me anyway, irrelevant.
10
Today Obama kept saying "gyn" as "guy-knee". Is that the standard now? Back in "the day" it was just g-y-n.
11
As a copywriter, I gotta say that they could have followed up the photo with something a little more relevant than "indulge your senses." I mean come on, if you're going to put a briefcase or purse or whatever as your image, you can at least pair it with some words that match.
I apologize for following the annoying tradition of beginning a statement with "As a such-and-such" implying that it gives one special knowledge.
I apologize for following the annoying tradition of beginning a statement with "As a such-and-such" implying that it gives one special knowledge.
16
@7 - if that's a briefcase, it's got a pretty gigantic zipper (compare the scale in this picture). And you're free to say "I totally ignore symbols -- you should, too!" but that doesn't actually render the symbols meaningless.
18
My first response: "Witty!" (for reasons similar to what Douglas at 7 wrote: "It's an image that's intended to resemble a vagina without anyone, like the AFA or whatever, being able to get upset.") The idea of an erotic arts festival highlighting the erotic qualities of everyday objects seemed smart and clever.
This response is now tempered by the immediate, visceral response of a number of women friends, who've greeted the image with big fat "EEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!"s.
Maybe I'm relinquishing my original position too easily, but in matters of vagina-approximating imagery, I feel the opinions of actual women trump the opinion of a gay man any day....
This response is now tempered by the immediate, visceral response of a number of women friends, who've greeted the image with big fat "EEEWWWWWWWWWW!!!"s.
Maybe I'm relinquishing my original position too easily, but in matters of vagina-approximating imagery, I feel the opinions of actual women trump the opinion of a gay man any day....
20
Add a brass telescope and some useless gears and you'd have a past-it's-prime steampunk fleshlight.
21
It's clever, clinical and more than a little creepy. Plus, honestly, if this was a picture of a woman's vagina photographed in a similar fashion, I don't think ANYONE would find it "erotic".
22
#21, dude what are you talking about? I'm sure I could find guys who just find the briefcase sexy, much less when posed to look like a vagina. Have you never been on the internet before?
24
It's imaginitive. Erotic art festival promo = picture of something inadvertently sexual. Perfect!
Some commenters here have no sense of humor or imagination.
Plus, it's sad that women would think of vaginas as gross. Be happy about it, or indifferent if you must, but to think it's gross? What a drag.
Some commenters here have no sense of humor or imagination.
Plus, it's sad that women would think of vaginas as gross. Be happy about it, or indifferent if you must, but to think it's gross? What a drag.
31
Thank you, Urgutha. I was beginning to wonder. I think it's hilarious, and yes, sexy; if you think about vulvas as much as I do, you can indeed see them everywhere.
33
For the record, as* a vagina-owning, "WTF?!"-thinking commentor, I do think the general concept of the image is clever, amusing, subversive, and not the least bit gross. The "open vagina = empty wallet" connotation, however, is overt and annoying.
*@11 - I'm not claiming special knowledge here, just giving my bona fides. (That's what HE said!)
*@11 - I'm not claiming special knowledge here, just giving my bona fides. (That's what HE said!)
34
Brilliant, considering:
1) how phallocentric the culture usually is, and
2) that we're in a Recession, and the arts are starved as ever for money.
1) how phallocentric the culture usually is, and
2) that we're in a Recession, and the arts are starved as ever for money.
36
Andy Niable excellent point!
It's nice to see something other than cock as the symbol for sex. All you haters and Oedipal gutter dwellers need to relax!
It's nice to see something other than cock as the symbol for sex. All you haters and Oedipal gutter dwellers need to relax!
37
I think other choices are missing, such as "funny" "cute" "clever" and "wow, where did someone find that purse?" :-)
I love this piece, by the way. I think the Festival is showing that erotic art can be light and fun.
I love this piece, by the way. I think the Festival is showing that erotic art can be light and fun.
38
i second what lola [33] said, minus the vagina-owning part, and plus my prejudice that "erotic art" is nothing more than a sexual outlet for people who aren't getting any and is inherently tacky and unsexy. so... in that regard, the poster hits all the right notes.
40
I think this image is brilliant.
Despite that fact that if you look at it for a while, you realize that there is the potential to start drawing an metaphor between the vagina and something that is stiff, dry, hard and leathery.
I don't care. The image is still brilliant.
Despite that fact that if you look at it for a while, you realize that there is the potential to start drawing an metaphor between the vagina and something that is stiff, dry, hard and leathery.
I don't care. The image is still brilliant.
42
# 38: You seem to have missed an entire and highly relevant section of art history.
Society obviously doesn't have any other tacky/unsexy "outlets" for people who aren't getting any. . .
Society obviously doesn't have any other tacky/unsexy "outlets" for people who aren't getting any. . .
43
if you analyze the image long enough you can draw tons of negative and positive interpretations out of it, but my immediate reaction is simply, it looks like a vagina, i like vaginas, i like this image.
and i have to disagree with whoever said that a real vagina pictured this way wouldn't be erotic, i would have liked that image too. but from a cleverness-in-advertising standpoint it would have been a bit on the nose as they say.
and i have to disagree with whoever said that a real vagina pictured this way wouldn't be erotic, i would have liked that image too. but from a cleverness-in-advertising standpoint it would have been a bit on the nose as they say.
44
no i haven't, dimensionsvariable. i'm not saying it's impossible for art to be tasteful and erotic, just that based on my own prejudices, when i hear the term "erotic art fair" i think x-rated comic book convention.
46
I hate how much the focus on money. "Own your pleasure" and the wallet. It feels like all it's about it money. Making money, spending money. Not at all about art. Which is lame.
50
I personaly think this is AMAZING and love the creativity shown by the artist. Truely brilliant for anyone that understands EROTICA! I would not miss this show for my life! :) :) ;)
51
@48 - Touché. That is indeed a symbolic gaping leather vulva and not a symbolic gaping leather vagina.
52
I think it's clever and I love it.
For reasons mentioned above (#s 5, 7, 18, etc...) I think this is a great picture, and anyone who's over analyzing hidden meanings (#s 2, 4, 9, 14, etc...) need to just shut up and try to appreciate art.
For reasons mentioned above (#s 5, 7, 18, etc...) I think this is a great picture, and anyone who's over analyzing hidden meanings (#s 2, 4, 9, 14, etc...) need to just shut up and try to appreciate art.
54
#46
FYI, I have it on good authority that the artists make a great commission at SEAF. And, it is about the money for them. They spend a lot in creating the art that gives us so much pleasure and they deserve to get paid for their effors.
SEAF is about the art and it's also a fundraiser for the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture (a nonprofit) that produces it every year.
#44 You should come by and check it out. You'll never think of an Erotic Art Festival the same
FYI, I have it on good authority that the artists make a great commission at SEAF. And, it is about the money for them. They spend a lot in creating the art that gives us so much pleasure and they deserve to get paid for their effors.
SEAF is about the art and it's also a fundraiser for the Foundation for Sex Positive Culture (a nonprofit) that produces it every year.
#44 You should come by and check it out. You'll never think of an Erotic Art Festival the same
56
Vulva... vagina... pussy... whatever, as long as people know what you're talking about who cares?
57
Art is supposed to challenge you. The uncomfortable comments prove the image did its intended job, I think. I love this poster because my first impression was "WTF?!" followed by relief of it not safe or some cliché crap like flowers with innuendo or something.
As for the money, if you are looking for greedy perverts out for a buck, there are far easier and more profitable ways to go about that.
PS- Seattle is one of the very few places in the country that can host something like this in a city owned facility without having to seriously engage morality crusaders. Take some pride :)
As for the money, if you are looking for greedy perverts out for a buck, there are far easier and more profitable ways to go about that.
PS- Seattle is one of the very few places in the country that can host something like this in a city owned facility without having to seriously engage morality crusaders. Take some pride :)
60
Right... Don't you dare giggle - because eroticism is srs business.
(I think it's great. I'll do the giggling for you, but I'd rather you join me.)
(I think it's great. I'll do the giggling for you, but I'd rather you join me.)
62
I appreciate the cleverness of the image composition, but I contend that a stiff, dry, brown, empty folio is an unkind characterization.
63
First - I think calling erotic art 'nothing more than a sexual outlet for people who aren't getting any and is inherently tacky and unsexy' seems like a broad and ignorant insult. I don't even want to ask what you think of as 'legitimate' art and artists. Art's subjective.. it can be controversial and sexy.. thought-provoking..ugly and *gasp* fun! I like the poster - it made me double-take.. and then I laughed and thought, sexy, silly.. it's clever. You don't have to like it.. but don't judge an artist or an entire event or type of art as less than because it obviously makes you uncomfortable. SEAF is becoming nationally respected and is a really fun and eye-opening event. The people-watching alone can keep you occupied for some time. Sex is fun! That's all they're saying. It's a positive thing. Have some maybe.. you'll find out.
69
The first time I saw this was on a postcard at Circus Contraption last weekend and I nearly wept with delight.
Don't be a pussy, support the arts, get a stiffy at SEAF.
Don't be a pussy, support the arts, get a stiffy at SEAF.
71
Leathery? No, no; soft and supple and...er...lined with sharp teeth?
I kid! I kid! I love a good visual double-entendre, and the pull on the zipper looks like a bit of jewelery depending from a very intimately placed piercing.
I kid! I kid! I love a good visual double-entendre, and the pull on the zipper looks like a bit of jewelery depending from a very intimately placed piercing.
73
As a proud owner of a vulva, I love it. Also, I think someone up there mentioned it looked like a portfolio case. I tend to agree and feel that it only adds to how clever the image is. It's no Georgia O'Keefe, but it'll do.
74
I can't hear the word Volvo without mentally transposing Vulva. "What do you think of my new Vulva? Ain't she a beaut?" That sort of thing.
75
I think it's clever enough to almost be brilliant. To me it's about finding gold in the mundane - keeping one's eye sharp and alive to possibilities. I see it only as positive. Vulva's are breathtaking and magical. ( I see no implication relating money and sex - I mean I get it if you bring it up, but to me it's just a lovely observation in "found art.")
76
I like it! I saw it and grinned thinking "ooo, that's sneaky! I Love it!!"
To me, as a woman, it doesn't have any hidden offending meaning behind it; I just think of it as having been a very clever idea to get a point across without having to worry about being censored for using a real body part. It's art and considering the event it's helping to advertise I think it does exactly what it needs to. :)
To me, as a woman, it doesn't have any hidden offending meaning behind it; I just think of it as having been a very clever idea to get a point across without having to worry about being censored for using a real body part. It's art and considering the event it's helping to advertise I think it does exactly what it needs to. :)
79
Personally, I think it's beautiful! Stop trying to overload it with all sorts of evil meaning! It's meant to be sensual, and show the erotic in the everyday. And if you dislike it because you don't think someone should show their vag ... it's 2009, people! Grow up! It's not too late! Really!
80
I love sex; I love things that make me think of sex...This makes me think of sex, therefore, I love it. Vaginas (or is it vaginae?!?) are pretty, I like to look at them; I like pretty flowers. This makes me both happy and horny...
81
I really dig it. It intrigues me so much that I'm trying to figure out how to get to Seattle May 1-4 so that I can some participate. Unfortunately, my flight isn't until August 9-10th. Durn! Anybody got a link to similar great suggestive images? Has this been done in the past? Is there a link to a past exhibition? Where do I find the history of this exhibit?
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