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Illuminata and an encouraging fall day

November 12, 2004

Yesterday, after a bit of hustle and bustle in my little corner of Pornoland, I met up with my brother, who was in town doing music stuff, stuffed myself with a burrito, spent a few hours with Gracie (no handjobs, just playing with her kitties and catching up) and then trekked to Hell�s Kitchen and Art @ Large for the opening for Barbara Nitke�s latest photographs.

I�ve been following Nitke�s work for the past bunch of years, especially since I worked on an exhibition that included several of her photographs of CA porn shoots. She�s been developing a lawsuit against everybody�s favorite, John Ashcroft, and Lisa Vandever (director of CineKink) is making a documentary about her legal battles. So, Nitke�s been very much in my sexual-political consciousness of late, which is nice and all, but all that really pales in comparison to her art.

Nitke has been described as showing the human side of BDSM � I definitely take issue with that turn of phrase, because BDSM is a human expression, so of course there is a �human side� to it. At the same time, however, I can understand (but dislike!) this phrase as operating under the assumption that BDSM is all about mean tops and pathetic bottoms who �whoda thunkit? � have very tender relationships with one another.

Fifth Angel and Slave Leslie, III

What I like about her work is that this new batch of photographs goes beyond tenderness, and into a land of exuberance, with the thrill of exploration and fulfillment of desire.

It was a good day, full of food, sunny crisp fall weather, and feeling at home with smart pervs. In so many ways, a perfect New York day.

Posted by Dacia at November 12, 2004 06:52 PM