Credit: http://www.animalnewyork.com/
It is easy to find almost anything on the internet. It has become a space and outlet for the more seedy and unsavory aspects of our society. You probably know what I’m driving at, so I’ll stop beating around the bush. The internet is a haven for porn and working your way around pesky copyright laws.
This is especially true with the proliferation of social media platforms—in today’s media-focused and -driven world we love to document our moments of intimacy for the internet community to see; whether it’s an Instagram post of a cat in your lap, a book, and a glass of wine on the table or all the pictures of significant others and children on Facebook.
For better or for worse Clayton Cubitt takes this one step further in his video series, “Hysterical Literature.” Personally, I think it’s for the better. These videos depict a woman sitting on a table with a black backdrop, reading a book of her choosing aloud until she reaches orgasm. This presentation allows the viewer to focus on the simplicity of the reading; everything is done with one take, the spoken words punctuated with mistakes and stutters, with moans of pleasure and laughter.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2bcY5hSurYY
As an art project it remains controversial, with critics saying rather than being art, the videos are pornographic. However, unlike pornography the orgasm is celebrated, not used as a note of finality. The ritual of Cubitt’s work takes on another nature—though the work is inherently voyeuristic, this voyeuristic gaze is compromised by the words being read. The novels themselves are famous works of literature and carry the weight of their celebrated status: the vestiges of authorial intent, the imagination on the part of the reader, the imagination of the listener, the addressing of social issues and human nature. Similarly, the reading itself becomes less serious, there is no attempt at perfection, no hiding or shame in moments and interruptions of human sexuality. As Anthony Burgess (the author of A Clockwork Orange) writes in this novel The Kingdom Of The Wicked:
“You may lick your lips in anticipation of being, as it were, vicariously corrupted at the hands of your author. It is all too possible that the practice of literature is a mode of depravity rightly to be condemned. But, as is well known, literature ceases to be literature when it commits itself to moral uplift: it becomes moral philosophy or some such dull thing.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2oNptc-IKeI
Cubbitt himself speaks about what he calls the “Constant Moment” in his blog. It is a fascinating piece of writing, in which he argues that the decisive moment of photography has ended. This decisive snap and shoot, the make it or break it moment that governed the work of photographers has come to an end. Modern digital photography allows us to capture continuous moments and presentations of art and the world around us. This completely integrates the moments of sexuality with the literature that is being read and with the women who are being presented to us in the videos. It is all art, the entire video is of equal importance and focus. The line that separates the high art of literature and low-brow presentation of sexual pleasure on the internet is being broken down in the entirety of the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nHt4IEyYuyQ
Even the title of the piece, “Hysterical Literature” deals with the misgivings and misconceptions surrounding female sexuality, dating back to the Victorian Era when female hysteria was a diagnosable disease that could be “cured” by a medical official and his vibrator. In fact the etymology of the term hysterectomy finds it’s roots in these Victorian practices. Cubitt’s piece addresses this with his portrait of the women presented in the videos; the readers are knowledgable of literary classics and the incurring orgasms are treated as positive experiences. Though secretly under the table Cubitt’s assistant makes use of a vibrator to instigate the climax, the continuous moment being presented is one of joy, not disease. The title takes note of the social advantages available to modern women while also serving as a reminder of gender inequality and discrimination. Cubitt’s art pieces are able to address so much in the short six to eight minute span that they take up on Youtube. They shed light of our treatment of sexuality, gender, literature, obscenity, and high versus low art while maintaining the light-hearted atmosphere of reading a book. Proving, once again, that reading is indeed sexy.