I'm sorry about the sex

Pamela Russmann: The myGiulia theme for August is “What a feeling.” What feeling do you associate with sex? Beate Absalon:
In English, I would say “anticipation,” which in German is unfortunately usually translated as “Vorfreude.” But in the English sense of this spellbound state of expectation, both can exist at the same time: joy and fear. And what I like about the word “anticipation” is that it refers to a state that hasn’t happened yet. I associate that with sex, too—this eternal circling around something that somehow can’t quite be grasped.

Lumen d'Arc 03.07.23 Lumen d'Arc 03.07.23

"I do wonder: Why do I make people up?"

Jade gently picks up a pink silicone cake mold shaped like a hemisphere of the brain. Inside is a thin white layer, which Jade carefully scrapes out and collects in a small bottle. Then we turn on the microphone and ask what Jade is doing and why :) With this audio series, we’d like to introduce you to people you can learn from when it comes to the question: What do you actually do in a playspace? Because they come with many challenges. How do I connect with people? What should I pack? Should I plan something or just see what happens spontaneously? We were lucky to have Jade…

Beate Absalon 08.09.21 Beate Absalon 08.09.21

How exactly do you even play in so-called sex-positive spaces, and is it really just about sex, or is it actually about something else too—but what do you call that?

While walking with a friend, we talk about my perception and experience of the so-called sex-positive spaces - out of her open curiosity, as she has not yet experienced these spaces first-hand. I start by describing a bit of the 'infrastructure': how it all started for me in the first place, how I first stumbled into a workshop by chance at a dance school where ropes and floggers were also used, how I then met Schwelle7 and Matís, whom I told about writing my master's thesis on Shibari and who then recruited me as an assistant for a bondage course in no time at all. Finally, the more difficult part, trying to describe what interests me about the rooms in the first place. I mention the classics that many people in the "scene" report about. How liberating it is to let people...

Beate Absalon 31.12.20 Beate Absalon 31.12.20

Intimate Interviews Part II

Last year, we had the pleasure of interviewing wonderful and talented people about everything that also occupies us in our work. To start things off, we treated our interviewees to a bodywork session of their choice, so we could get the conversation flowing with a good rush of blood. We had prepared many questions, some of which came up repeatedly, while others arose spontaneously. So the conversations usually began with a free association on the topic of “sex”—simply saying whatever first came to mind, without thinking. And toward the end, the focus was mostly on what specific workshops on creative intimacy they would like to see. What emerged between us and was put into words is, to me, pure gold! Here is the second transcribed interview!

Beate Absalon 22.12.20 Beate Absalon 22.12.20

Video interview by the Goethe-Institut China with Beata on “Pornography & Society”

What materials can help us get to the bottom of the elusive nature of sexuality? How are our bodies and their desires entangled in power dynamics—and how do we deal with that? Alone or with others? Publicly or privately? By emphasizing the beautiful or the difficult aspects? With playfulness or seriousness? Being sweet or being angry? Do we even have to decide—and why is it always so much about deciding “This is good and this is bad!” when it comes to sexuality? For the issue of the online magazine “yì” focusing on “Pornography and Society,” Silvan Hagenbrock, online editor at the Goethe-Institut China, spoke with Beata about her work and vision.
Watch the video here.

Beate Absalon 06.08.20 Beate Absalon 06.08.20

“Sex & Food” – Beata in a podcast conversation with Nicole Siller

It’s about how bondage relates to birth and death, why even licking an arm can be considered sex, and how frustration can be a great foundation for more pleasure. Click here for the podcast.