At the exhibition, conceived by Briton Neil Bartlett, 10 visitors shared their sexual fantasies. And at the same time, they became participants in the project: once a week, the most interesting answers are hung on the walls of the gallery.
When it comes to sex, there is no such thing as a “simple question”. It quickly becomes clear that even the most elementary questions have subtext. Many sex surveys begin by asking participants to indicate whether they are male or female. Why not female or male? But what about those who believe that they have no gender or belong to both at once? Why are survey participants always asked what they do with their bodies, but not what they don’t do and why they don’t? And how about the fact that for some of us sex exists mainly in memories or – a sign of modernity – on a mobile phone?
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- Why do women fantasize about love
British writer, playwright and filmmaker Neil Bartlett’s new work, Excuse Me Can I Ask You Some Personal Questions About Sex, which the author calls “Entering a Minefield”, is on display at London’s Wellcome Collection. This museum’s extraordinary display combines medical artifacts with works of art, embodying the concept of the relationship between medicine, life and art. When creating the installation, Neil Bartlett was inspired by the pioneering research of sexologists and psychologists presented at the exhibition “Institute of Sexology. Freud, Stopes, Mead, Masters and Johnson.” At the exhibition, the same thing happens that these researchers did – they ask strangers a lot of sensitive questions. The idea is that after viewing the exhibition, the visitor receives a questionnaire consisting of 25 difficult questions. He can answer the ones he likes and then lowers the questionnaire into a locked box. Once a week, the box is opened and a team of readers and organizers and exhibitors select quotes that make you think about the sex life of England, which, without the names of course, are immediately published on the walls of the gallery.
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- All ages of female sexuality
The response was amazing – more than 10 visitors have already not only answered the questionnaire, but also shared their thoughts. So the American sexologist Alfred Kinsey was right when he noticed that when it comes to sex, nothing can be based on assumptions.
The woman, who answered the questions in a formulaic way, unexpectedly admitted in her comment that she did not understand why people were so negative about rapists, and at the same time that she could not stand oral sex. The self-confident conservative moralist said the only thing he would like to change in his life is to awaken the old love in his wife. Another man travels back in time in his fantasies and brings relief to World War II soldiers on leave. This is very touching if you think in terms of an era when homosexuality was considered a crime, but looks very different, given that the respondent is 35 years old.
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- How are roles distributed in a homosexual couple?
Sometimes a lonely voice brings a note of optimism and sanity. A married woman with cancer described how positive her sexual experience was during chemotherapy. Another woman shared her memories of being taught by her mother about the importance of multiple orgasms while watching The Antiques Roadshow.1. Another visitor to the exhibition, answering the question of what advice she would give herself young, wrote: “In bed, nothing interferes with your progress.” How I would like to include this statement in the school curriculum as a topic for discussion!
It can be expected that before the closing of the exhibition there will be more than 20 thousand questionnaires that will allow sexologists to take a “photo” of London’s sex life. Bartlett drew attention to the fact that society better than ever understands the life of transgender people and treats them more respectfully, while transgender people themselves have become freer in self-expression. The word “consent” is used more and more often in a variety of settings. There are more and more people who believe that the erosion of heterosexual norms does not pose a threat to them, but liberates them, just as the pleasure received by a woman is perceived as a right, and not as a threat. However, Neil Bartlett acknowledges that future researchers may interpret the survey results differently.
Pass the tests
- What determines your sexual self-esteem?
- How confident are you in your sexuality?
- What do your sexual fantasies say about you?
Many of our contemporaries complain that because of work they have little time for sex. Others worry about the impact of pornography on young men. Dissatisfaction, irritation and confusion are universal and common to all – both men and women, and yet all participants in the survey speak very clearly, and Bartlett sees this as a favorable sign of the times. People want to think about sex themselves, and not leave this area at the mercy of priests, pornographers or politicians. Bartlett himself, having learned the thoughts of many people he did not know, would give his young man the following advice: having sex is not practicing techniques, but searching for meaning.
Read more at The Guardian.
1 The Antiques Roadshow is one of Britain’s most popular television programs, in which professional antique dealers travel around the country and evaluate antiques. It has been published weekly on the BBC since 1982.