DAVID BLOOM

Freedom is hard. It demands an active engagement with one’s own desires & boundaries, and taking responsibility for the space one wants to co-create. First, in a political sense - democracy can only survive when citizens engage with it, and anarchist alternatives (in the positive sense of a society based on the understanding that human beings are inherently good) are even more work. Second, as an artist: the freedom to do absolutely anything can be challenging, overwhelming, and/or boring. BDSM and sex-positive Spaces can provide opportunities, to deal with the complexities...

What do the art films at the Porny Days Film Festival provoke? How much sex can art tolerate? And how do we talk about images that break with visual habits and conventions of sexuality? On Sunday afternoon, following the legendary party of the Porny Days Film Festival, we’ll take time to reflect on the festival experience. To this end, we’re inviting people with backgrounds in aesthetics, cultural studies, and cultural production to attend the Porny Days Film Festival and share their festival experiences with us.

Bring your witch hats, your magic cloaks, and of course your—ahem—Magic Wand, because we’re diving into the world of sex magic and playing with parallel universes! Magic can be defined as the moment when actions on the physical plane influence other planes of existence. And what physical actions have greater potential for transformation than kink? We will harness the energy of this very group on this very day to create a ritual and manifest intentions…

Desire never emerges in a vacuum, but rather intersubjectively, in the space between people, filled with history and complexity. In this workshop, we will bring our attention to the difference between having a particular taste, fantasy, or fetish - and projecting that onto another person, or people - and allowing desires and relations to emerge through observing, listening, and receiving. The space between us, so present and compulsory in this age affected by a global pandemic, is reimagined as a space of possibility and magic.