Porn Art or Art Porn? Challenged by the semantic nuances of my second language, I went for the one that just sounded better to me.
The Golden Age of Porn
Everyone thought the Era of Porn had arrived with the invention of VHS, and then came Internet.
We addressed in other posts the crisis of the old porn studios. The new technologies made porn production easier and more accessible to everyone. The contact between the performers and the consumers can now be direct without intermediaries. The market is invaded and dominated by free access to porn. Of course the traditional adult entertainment industry is shaking.
Beyond any difficulties some porn industry outlets may be going through, the explosion on diversity of porn sub genders and niche markets is gold for the consumers.
In a recent post we welcomed the arrival of a new niche oriented studio, Noir Male by Chi Chi LaRue. Today, I want to recommend you a couple of porn art pearls.
Porn Art
Out of all the niches and porn sub genders flourishing around, porn art is perhaps the last and least. I myself do not consume it very often because it easy moves from porn art to pretentious porn.
However, it does have an irresistible attractive to me. This blogger cannot help the magnetism of the undefinable.
My very dilemma when thinking of a title for this post, illustrates the difficulty we may have to trace the line where porn becomes or stops to be Art. I am confident there are thousands of pages written about that I have not read. My common sense dictates that ultimately the definition is up to the watcher.
Well, from my eyes, I want to share a precious movie and a unique creator, both representatives of what I understand is Porn Art.
Argentine Porn Art
I wish I had more information about this pearl. “Learning”, written and directed by “Mónaco”. The protagonist, featured in the titles as River Taylor, is actually Leandro Carrizo. With different stage names he is a local porn artist and escort.
Perhaps I should say he was an adult entertainer. During my last visit to Buenos Aires I tried to reach out to him in his IG account, but never got any response. It is true I did not insist even when I know that his mailbox may be full; but considering how short my visit was and the countless easily available options, I saw no point in investing more time on meeting him.
Several of his scenes are available in Pornhub for free, and some of his best performances can be sampled at Latin Leche.
The beauty of “Learning” is that seems to be a case studio for Argentine independent hyperrealist movies, one of the main schools in the local audiovisual culture. Slow scenes, very short dialogues, ambiguous situations, realist actors and acting, traditional humble neighborhoods and Buenos Aires’ landscapes in this case, from inside the country in other cases.
It tells the story of a homeless boy who becomes room mate to a random guy who welcomes him in his humble room. He starts developing a lust for men, and the movie documents his first steps, his “learning”. The protagonist narrates the story in off, following an autobiographic format. All the characters are representative of Argentine low middle class and under.
This blogger sublimely enjoyed the language, the atmospheres, the many situations that may seem staged for alien eyes, but perfectly mirror Argentine every day real life. I cannot help but wonder how the movie experience may be for a foreigner. Please, let me know, it would be highly appreciated.
Bruce LaBruce’s Porn Art
Bruce LaBruce just released a new porn movie in partnership with CockyBoys, “Flea Pit”. It is actually a convo of 4 shorter videos. The cast is full of big names, being my favorite ones François Sagat and Dato Foland, but including very popular names like Sean Ford, Arad Winwin, Levi Karter, and Colby Keller amongst others.
It is the last of a not so long list of porn movies by this Canadian artist. The last one I saw was L.A. Zombie (2010), with Francois Sagat and Eddie Díaz. It was a very much talked about release 8 years ago.
This blogger has been following LaBruce’s filmography since his very beginning, in the early 90s. I remember standing in the long line to watch “No Skin Off My Ass” in Buenos Aires’ Cine Cosmos, one of the hubs for independent films watching back then. You may not know that in Buenos Aires there is a thriving film culture that looks down to Hollywood and looks for inspiration in alternative outlets.
From my love for the undefinable, I’ve always found LaBruce’s work deeply appealing. Not only in his porn, but in all of his movies from “No Skin Off My Ass” (1991) to “Gerontophilia” (2013), this outstanding artist advocates for a sexuality without easy labels and understandings, far from mainstream Gay culture and deep into the Queer, questioning tradition of alternative gay culture.
Porn Art is also Political Art
In a world that tries to classify, label, explain, and analyze sexuality and sex, Bruce LaBruce’s quest is after expanding, describing, imagining, experimenting, questioning, and documenting the monumental diversity of human sexuality.
He has moved beyond the stage of confronting and criticizing the state of mainstream gay culture. LaBruce just ignored it first to fest in the world of his uniquely creative imagination. Now is developing partnerships with mainstream media to expand the reach of his art.
I Like Pinga welcomes another voice that understands sexuality and sex not as matters to study about, but as matters to fly, sail, navigate, swim, dig, and scuba dive into.
To close this post, a commercial for the cologne this crazy genius has designed. Obscenity, of course.
