Juhana Lauri Pettersson
Beauté désincarnée - Installation - 2005
presented as part of the exhibition Panorama 6
Installation
Pornography greater than the spectator, a pure spectacle that reigns over the human being. The movement of the flesh grinds down to hypnotic slowness as the ambient soundscape approves of the spectator who does the same. To experience the porn, the spectator has to be compromised, to be subjected to the experience instead of being allowed to be detached. Beaute désincarnée is grounded in an idea of sexuality as something healthy and uncomplicated but also overwhelming and clean. It is a pornographic installation about pornography that attempts to chart new, unfamiliar ways of experiencing porn. It takes porn as it is, arranging some of the familiar symbols in a such a way as to leave the real action of the piece to take place in the mind of the spectator. As a part of creating meaningful porn experiences, it has been necessary to cast off the usual aesthetic hallmarks of porn, from the platinum blonde stars to the easy-listening soundtrack in search of a frsher look that’s closer to the personal experiences of the spectator, while at the same time retaining some of the classic porn tropes such as the facial cumshot and the outdoors location. Other techniques involved in this creation of meaning are the use of extreme slow motion and an organic porno soundscape. The installation has been realized in collaboration with the Norwegian porn group Fuck for Forest. Their work is grounded in traditional Sixties hippie make love not war -thinking, but instead of sloganeering they’ve made it into a concrete plan of action, converting their erotic expression into funds for environmental causes. This brings some unusual elements into the discussion of the morals of porn, since it is rarely made with altruistic motives like this. It brings to the work an extra element of purity and moral high ground that goes well with the general aesthetics of the installation.
Performers: Leona Johansson and Tommy Ellingsen of Fuck for Forest Music: Martin K. Glover
Juhana Lauri Pettersson
Juhana Pettersson is a Finnish media artist now living in Lille, France. He has worked as a freelance journalist in both print media and television before coming to Le Fresnoy, in addition to creating independent video such as the Kuvasuhde 2003 winner Kaikkien kanssa koko ajan (With Everybody All the Time) and roleplaying game work such as the live-action game Luminescence produced by the Solmukohta conference in 2004. His first circus performance, Bouffe c’que j’te donne, was featured at Le Fresnoy during the Panorama 5 exhibition and his first book, Roolipelimanifesti (the Roleplaying Manifesto), was published by Like kustannus in the spring of 2005.
Production
Acknowledgments
Thanks to all the people who helped make this project happen, especially the ones who helped me during the difficult shoot in Norway.
