A collaborative project by sex workers and artists shifting the focus of the 'object of desire' through archiving and art.
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Although this is an ongoing project, we are kicking it all off with an exhibition that will take place on the 5th-13th August 2016 (Private view: 4th August) at the Red Gallery in Shoreditch, London, UK.
Exploring sex work through object biographies, Objects of Desire provides an alternative narration of being a sex worker to the binary of exploitation versus empowerment that often dominates popular discourse around sex work.
Through a focus on the personal stories of sex workers, from the everyday material dimensions of the work to relationships with clients, Objects of Desire purposefully shifts the conversation from one that focuses on the objectification of people to one about the kinds of social relations that are engendered by physical things. It examines how objects both reflect and shape the everyday relations sex workers have with their clients, lovers, families and others.
Through a series of workshops and events, the exhibition will invite discussion around the ways in which both sex and labor are perceived, understood and moralised in the UK today.
This exhibition comes at a time of vital need to broaden conversations about sex work away from abstractions and one dimensional stereotypes. As sex worker organizations worldwide continue fighting for decriminalization as the best model to secure their rights and better working conditions, they have been endorsed by human rights groups such as Amnesty International. However, debates around legislation often exclude sex workers voices. The 'Nordic Model' of criminalising clients, which was recently adopted in France, is being considered by a parliamentary inquiry in the UK, despite a growing body of evidence that it endangers sex workers and increases stigma.
Amidst this context of political and legal contention, Objects of Desire takes the practice and everyday experience of sex work as a starting point for opening an alternative conversation on sex work. It is not merely an attempt to “humanize” sex workers through providing outsiders with a glimpse into their lives. Rather, sex workers’ stories about materiality and exchange challenge the wider public to reflect upon dynamics of gendered labor, complex hierarchies of power and care under capitalism, and the interplay of the emotional and material in all relationships.
Following an open call for objects from sex workers, Objects of Desire has collected gifts such as jam, The New Testament, an endoscopic camera, shiny leggings and a Blue Balls Fucking Machine (BBFM). Further to gifts, personal totems, such as a necklace, have been included. The necklace, which was bought for the first day of work, holds much significance to the owner despite their own description of it as ‘cheap and plastic’. The objects range from the erotic to the banal, however their biographies illuminate the ways in which the relations of sex work play out, are managed and sometimes surprise.
As Rori says about the Assorted M&S, Fortnum & Mason and Tesco jams and preserves she was given by a client…
“I’ve wondered why he always gives me preserves. I can see that he gets a lot of pleasure from giving me food and feeling that he is caring for me... But I’ve also noticed that he is very into bodily fluids and often says how nice it is that we “taste” each other. I wonder if the jars of sticky jam are a symbolic substance, a kind of proxy for bodily fluids... If me storing them in my cupboard and ingesting them is a way for him to transcend the boundaries of our sessions, inserting himself somehow into my home and body.”
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About us:
Rori
An anthropologist currently undertaking a Masters in social anthropology. Rori has an enduring interest in the stories and narratives of sex workers and has been an active sex worker in London for five years.
Mia
An artist and curator generally interested in people and the politics of their relationships, experiences and histories. Currently researching and making work about fetish and sexual or intimate obsessions and fantasies.
Jeeva_d
Assistant curator, anthropologist and artist practitioner
Email contact for project: archive.ood@gmail.com
The fundraising
We are hoping to raise money which will aid us in starting up the archive, putting on a great exhibition, organising workshops for sex workers and allies and continuing the project further. To break it down, we have written a list of some of the tasks involved in each step which will cost us:
Starting the archive
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Postage for objects being sent from outside the UK
- Making a website (hosting, domain, design and build)
The exhibition
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Hire of venue
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Printing of photographs
- Printing of artworks
- Getting objects and artworks in and out of the space (hiring a van)
- Hanging photographs and artworks
- Compensating artists, invigilators and helpers (with lunch if not a fee)
- Decoration of the space (wallpaper or paint, fun glitzy stuff, furniture)
- Private view (alcohol, DJs)
- Second week party selling zines from workshops (as above)
The workshops
- Paying speakers (for discussion workshops)
- Providing materials (for art / craft workshops)
- Printing zines / other artworks made in workshops
Continuing the project
- Travelling to collect and photograph more objects
- Taking the exhibition elsewhere
Luckily we have some great friends and contacts and have managed to get a lot of the things listed above (the designing and building of the website, for example) quoted at a much lower cost than anticipated. In the future, we aim to apply for funding for the project and it is often required to show that we have been running a functioning project and already have a portion of the money that we're asking for. We would like to be able to continue putting on exhibitions and pay artists and contributors in the future. Those of us who are running the project are not taking any profit from it or being compensated for our time (though we might buy ourselves lunch on installation and exhibition days as well as the helpers listed above!)
With the zines and artworks made in the workshops, we aim to sell these, with the profits returning to the people who made them. We are also hoping to sell some pre-existing things from sex workers and sex worker rights groups from a table in the exhibition all the time it's on.
Perks
Some of the perks we're offering are things which you'll be able to come and claim at the exhibition, or you can let us know if you can't make it there (or are not based in the UK) and we can post things out to you. Have a flick through our list of perks for everything from panties to photozines.
Other ways to contribute
If you can't contribute to the fundraiser but you want to help out and get involved then there are lots of ways that you can.
If you are a sex worker (of any kind!) and you want to contribute a story, experience, object or artwork than you can email us on
archive.ood@gmail.com and let us know. If you're not sure what to say about it, we have a set of questions that we've used to interview some people already. The way that your story or your object is shown in the archive is completely up to you and we will not make decisions on your behalf unless you chose to hand that responsibility to us.
If you are not a sex worker and you want to help, you can also email us on the above email address too as we have lots of thing we would welcome help with. Please let us know: your background, your skills, where you found out about the project and why you are interested in it.
Come to our fundraiser! We are going to be throwing a fundraising party where we will be doing a pub quiz (more details to be updated here as soon as we know the location!)
And please just spread the word for us! We are on Twitter as @projectofdesire and we would love if you could share our campaign on there and on Facebook and your other networks.