Dirty Sexecology @ Annie Sprinkle & Elizabeth Stevens. 2008

- SPRINKLE Annie M. & STEVENS M. Elizabeth, Dirty Sexecology, 2008.

In the mid-1970s, Annie Sprinkle (*1954, USA) began her career as an actor in porn films. In the early 1980s, she moved to director’s chair. She earned a BA in photography and began working as a performance artist in 1986. Her works received much attention, especially ‘‘Public Cervix Announcement’’, for which she invited viewers to inspect her cervix in an attempt to demystify the female sex. In 1991, she founded the Sluts and Goddesses workshop, and she collaborated with Maria Beatty and Pauline Oliveros in the publishing of a video guide on how to become a sex goddess. In 2004, Linda Montano inspired her to begin a project together with her partner Elizabeth Stevens, perfoming seven wedding ce remonies in seven years. The couple was officially married to each other in 2007, then to the earth in 2008, and they have been documenting their love making with the blue planet ever since. Prior to performing with Sprinkle, Elizabeth Stevens worked with installations and photography (‘‘Who’s Zoomin’ Who?’’, 1992, also with Sprinkle as a model).

In this performance, we see two monds of earth on a stage, each with a flower on top. Dr Sprinkle and Ms Stevens begin to explain the science of Sexecolofy, first by talking about it, then with a demonstration. This revue-based performance shows the duo and two assistants in white coats, demonstrating love with a flower, playing country music, performing a kind of nudist ballerina dance and making love with an earth mound. During these demonstrations, one of the assisatants in a white coat recites names of mountains. The video is an excerpt of a 45 minute performance at the Performance Saga Festival in Bern. It humorously blends pornography references with natural and idyllic kitsch and mock science.

Performance: 2008, Performance Saga Festival, Bern.