LITMIR.BIZ

      Distance permits freedom. Art, too – which can also represent a fetishistic production for the artist – affords freedom. It affords the freedom to play with fire without being burned. It appeals to the eye; it allows toying with sin without having sinned. This freedom through distance can be noted when observing the different reactions of viewers when looking at sex magazines and works of art. Have you ever seen the viewer of a porn magazine smile? A quiet cheerfulness, however, can be observed frequently in viewers of works of art, as if art brings forth an easing of the compellingly sensual. Those, however, who in a derogatory manner pronounce a work of art to be pornographic, prove nothing more than that they do not have any appreciation of what is artistic in the depicted object. Turning away in disgust does not necessarily have to be a characteristic of a special morality. Such people have a non-erotic culture.

      Eduard Fuchs, the past master of erotic art, whose books were accused of being pornographic during his lifetime, considers eroticism the fundamental subject of all art: sensuality is said to be present in any art, even if its objective is not always of a sexual nature. Accordingly, it would almost be a tautology to speak of erotic art. Long before Fuchs, Lou Andreas-Salomé had already pointed out the true relationship between eroticism and aesthetics: “It seems to be a sibling growth from the same root that artistic drive and sexual drive yield such extensive analogies that aesthetic delight changes into erotic delight so imperceptibly, erotic desire so instinctively reaches for the aesthetic, the ornamental (possibly giving the animal kingdom its ornament directly as a bodily creation).”

      Once, when Picasso, at the eve of his life, was asked about the difference between art and eroticism, his pensive answer was: “But – there is no difference.” Instead, as others warned about eroticism, Picasso warned about the experience of art: “Art is never chaste, one should keep it away from all innocent ignoramuses. People insufficiently prepared for art, should never be allowed close to art. Yes, art is dangerous. If it is chaste, it is not art.” Seen with the eyes of a moral watchdog, every type of art and literature would have to be abolished.

      If spirit and mind are the essence of humanity, then all those placing the mind and spirit in a position opposed to sensuality are hypocrites. On the contrary, sexuality experiences its true human form only after developing into eroticism and art – some translate eroticism as the art of love. Matters excluded from the civilising process assert themselves by demanding a medium that is spiritually determined, and that is art. It is in art that sexuality reaches its fullest bloom, which seems to negate all that is sensual in the shape of erotic art.

      Pornography is a judgemental term used by those who remain closed to eroticism. It is assumed that their sensuality never had the opportunity to be cultivated. These culturally underprivileged people – among them possibly so-called art experts and district attorneys – perceive sexuality as a threat even when it occurs in an aesthetically tempered format.

      Otto Rudolf Schatz. Watercolour.

      Even the observation that a work has offended or violated the viewpoints of many still does not make it pornographic. Art is dangerous! Works of art can offend and injure the feelings of others; they do not always make viewers happy. After all, is it not the duty of art to annoy and to stir things up?

      The bottom line: the term pornography is no longer in keeping with the times. Artistic depictions of sexual activities, whether they annoy or please, are part of erotic art. If not, they are insipid, dumb works, even if harmless.

      The following essays in this book examine all the peculiarities of erotic art. All viewpoints such as the art-historical or the one organised according to sexual science keywords, for example, cannot do erotic art any justice as long as eroticism itself is not the centre of the examination. This means that these essays will broach subjects that are rarely the subject of discussion in the context of depictions of erotic art. They also provide arguments against the false defenders of erotic art.

      Hans von Aachen, Jupiter and Callisto, c. 1600.

      Oil on canvas.

      Tribute to Pan, 18^th century. Oil on wood.

      The essay The Dream about the Orgy emphasises the ultimate in sexual dreams, whether they occur at night or during the day. Georges Bataille’s term ‘excess’ finds its extreme form of expression in the orgy, insofar as all boundaries are abolished during erotic ecstasy. A regressive maelstrom is exuded by eroticism and erotic art, which is curbed by culture through prohibitions, bans, and rituals.

      The essay Eroticism and Indignation explores the question of which internal powers are expressed in erotic depictions, leaving the viewer to oscillate between horror and rapture. Here, art itself proves to be the creative, spellbinding power. The essay illustrates that it is more the style and less the subject that determines the erotic character of a work of art. Indignation, so it is concluded, is a reaction appropriate for erotic works of art. We see pictures depicting wild excesses. Only through our imagination are we partaking in the excess. The composition Pleasures for the Eyes shows that voyeurism represents a dissociated appropriation of that which is physical. Seeing is recognisable as a sort of substitute action.

      The frame of a picture represents a demarcation line, which keeps the dangerous away from the real world. The essay The Loneliness of the Picture pursues the thought that the chaotic and limitless nature of eroticism has to be poured into geometric forms to become acceptable. It is thus possible to keep our desires under control.

      The basis of any museum foundation is a passion for collecting things. This passion itself is a deeply erotic activity, as the essay About the Erotic Roots of the Passion for Collecting Objects attempts to prove. The collector of erotica is thus closer to the roots of the drive or urge than any other collector.

      The article Sodom Berlin introduces the Berlin of the 1920s as a throbbing cultural metropolis. This is an especially prominent era in the Erotic Museum in Berlin. The essay Negation and Erection is a tribute to the great Berlin artist George Grosz, whose works became the expression of an exile’s fate.

      The last essay, May 1000 Flowers Bloom!, re-examines the question of why we have such a difficult time dealing with erotic art. At the same time, this essay pleads for a responsible and mature way of dealing with erotic art, in a democratic state acting with restraint.

      Dominique Larrivaz, A Brothel is Opened, 1989 and 1991. Installation. Paris and Manheim.

      Jean de l’Etang, from the Trente et quelques attitudes series, c. 1950. Coloured lithograph.

      The Dream about the Orgy

      The

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