Deguiltification - Experiential Essay By Chris Ifso
Beata and Matís run luhmen d'arc, a company founded in Berlin which creates "spaces dedicated to the manifold aspects of intimacy and desire." In September 2019 the duo were participants in Schmiede, a 10-day maker festival based at the Old Salt Works, Hallein in Austria, involving over 100 artists, musicians, digital creators and writers - including me. Beata is also an academic; her PhD topic is The Art of Sex Education: Contemporary Aesthetics As Idiosyncratic Interventions in Hegemonic Sexual Discourses. As research for this, luhmen d'arc was there to interview a range of participants about attitudes to sexuality. Interviewees were also offered an introductory bodywork session. A mattress sits in one corner of this large barn-like wooden studio, behind a flimsy curtain hung on a rope between pillars. I take off my shoes, lie face down and close my eyes. Beata and Matís proceed to give me a massage which is by turns tender, arousing, rough, funny and relaxing. I am fully-clothed and they are mild, but crucially there is no rule against getting turned on. To prove this, around the space are scattered vibrators, rope and masks for those who request to experiment further. I purr, laugh, wriggle and groan as I'm cradled, gently pummelled and stroked. I open my eyes, they switch on the tape recorder and ask me what the session brought up for me. There I am, a man aged 63, relaxed and glowing, lolling next to a young man and woman I like and trust, with whom there is no reason whatever to feel inhibited. I am among friendly strangers...
Forensic Sexualities. Some thoughts on shame
Research question: To what extent is sexuality not simply a means of gaining or increasing pleasure, but a catalyst, a medium with which something that is inside our bodies is processed? I came up with this question after a conversation with friends about shame. The general consensus is that shame is a bad thing and has to go so that we can finally be liberated. Although I don't think this is entirely wrong, something inside me resists. It seems too simple to me - and if it were so simple, why haven't we got rid of shame long ago? It also resists because I am afraid of the short-circuit reaction of simply suppressing the shame and pretending not to be ashamed. And as we all know, everything that has been repressed comes back at some point, finds its cracks and niches to creep back to the surface. It can't simply be pushed away, it has to be dealt with. On top of that, I fear that people will start to feel ashamed of being ashamed or that shame-shaming will occur. Last but not least, there are a lot of very unpleasant contemporaries who behave shamelessly and who make you wish your superego was stronger...
INDEX
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August 2023
- Aug. 22, 2023 Devouring, digestion and cocoreç Aug. 22, 2023
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July 2023
- July 3, 2023 "I do ask myself: Why am I turning people in?" July 3, 2023
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April 2023
- Apr 22, 2023 Workshopsexuality. Part I Apr. 22, 2023
- Apr. 21, 2023 Workshopsexuality. Part II Apr. 21, 2023
- Apr. 20, 2023 Workshopsexuality. Part III Apr. 20, 2023
- Apr. 19, 2023 Workshopsexuality. Part IV Apr. 19, 2023
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August 2022
- Aug. 23, 2022 Tantric massage: Decluttering, Recluttering & Beyond - A TWAPOS experience Aug. 23, 2022
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July 2022
- July 30, 2022 Salt With A Pinch Of Tantra July 30, 2022
- July 21, 2022 On Being Unenthusiastic About Enthusiastic Consent - New Zine by Beata July 21, 2022
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January 2022
- Jan. 11, 2022 Calling A Sex-Positive Community, Group or Event a "Family" - And Why It Is A Red Flag - New Zine by Beata Jan 11, 2022
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December 2021
- Dec. 1, 2021 But I'm a Creep. A lab report. Dec. 1, 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
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April 2021
- Apr 10, 2021 Cookie Consent Apr 10, 2021
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January 2021
- Jan. 2, 2021 Selfhelp zine for the time AFTER an exciting workshop Jan. 2, 2021
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December 2020
- Dec. 31, 2020 Intimate Interviews Part II Dec. 31, 2020
- Dec. 22, 2020 Video interview by the Goethe-Institut China with Beata on "Pornography & Society" Dec 22, 2020
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November 2020
- Nov. 11, 2020 The inner playground. An audio journey by Tim Holland Nov. 11, 2020
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October 2020
- Oct. 29, 2020 Daniela Reina Téllez On The Power Of Workshops And Circles Oct. 29, 2020
- Oct. 20, 2020 Sex /vs./&/?/ violence. Attempt at a conceptual delimitation based on demarcation Oct. 20, 2020
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September 2020
- Sept. 18, 2020 Testimonial for our workshop "Trial & Eros" by Claire Sept. 18, 2020
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August 2020
- Aug. 6, 2020 "Sex & Food" - Beata in a podcast talk with Nicole Siller Aug. 6, 2020
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June 2020
- June 23, 2020 Intimate Interviews Part I - The connection between art and desire and a workshop request concert June 23, 2020
- June 15, 2020 Lonely surfaces - sexual enhancement on the touchscreen June 15, 2020
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May 2020
- May 3, 2020 Sexmoralism - Compulsory Sex - Sexpositivity - Sexnegativity May 3, 2020
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März 2020
- March 18, 2020 Inspiring restriction - not only in Japanese. Cultural and historical links to bondage March 18, 2020
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February 2020
- Feb. 24, 2020 Clauses. A self-reflection Feb. 24, 2020
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January 2020
- Jan. 15, 2020 Beyond 'sex-positive' and 'sex-negative' Jan 15, 2020
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November 2019
- Nov. 27, 2019 Deguiltification - Experiential Essay By Chris Ifso Nov 27, 2019
- Nov. 10, 2019 Forensic Sexualities. Some thoughts on shame Nov. 10, 2019
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September 2019
- Sept. 25, 2019 'Look what marketing's done to my body' - On the compulsion of (not so) creative self-marketing Sept. 25, 2019
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July 2019
- July 9, 2019 Eclectic experiment on un/security (work in process) July 9, 2019
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June 2019
- June 24, 2019 Wellness and exorcism. An attempt to answer the question of what makes a session valuable June 24, 2019
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April 2019
- Apr 28, 2019 The Ropes That Mean The World. Reflections on the EURIX - Rope Artist Intl. Performances Spring 2019 Apr. 28, 2019
- Apr 6, 2019 "Always this disgusting sex". To read the reviews of Jan Bonny's 'Winter's Tale' Apr 6, 2019
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March 2019
- March 27, 2019 A mixed bag, please! Definition difficulties March 27, 2019
- March 20, 2019 Enduring the weird. Reflections after a workshop March 20, 2019
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July 2018
- July 10, 2018 Some Thoughts On The Empowering Sensual Objectifications In Contact Improvisation July 10, 2018
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