Sex
at the Museum
by
Marlene Nadle
The Museum of Sex
in New York
is not found down a dark alley. There are no special knocks needed for
entry. The vice squad doesn't come to call.
 Instead it sits respectably
on Fifth Avenue
sharing the street with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is housed in a
traditional building while kicking over many of the country's Puritan
traditions. Within its walls it combines seriousness with titillation,
sociology with salaciousness.
The
Museum's range was seen in one of its early exhibits called "Men Without
Suits" that began with a classic Greek statue and ended with raunchy
beefcake. Its mix is also in the permanent collection's 15,000 artifacts
that include everything form prints by artist Keith Haring to a
sex machine called the "Thrillhammer." One of the pleasures of being in the
building is the juxtapositions of unexpected objects that include:
tokens from a peep show, vintage girlie magazines, a time line of sex
education in America,
a preserved human penis, and costumes from a burlesque theater.
The
serious and salacious double identity of the Museum of Sex
is in the very stones of its 19th century landmarked building. Their weight
may rest on what is now fashionable lower
Fifth Avenue. However, in the 1800's this area
was known as the Tenderloin District. It was filled with brothels, dance
halls, and all forms of rampant sexuality.
That
older spirit was revived in 2002 when the Museum of Sex
was started. It was the brainchild of businessman Daniel Gluck. Its
stated mission was to, "Preserve and present the history, evolution, and
cultural significance of human sexuality. It has pretty much done that in
the years since it opened..
History
frames the exhibits, but the details are graphic. One of their early
presentations was "Stags, Smokers, and Blue Movies, The Origins of American
Pornographic Film." It contained a rare 1915 film clip. Most of these
initial hard core film, which began about 1907, have disintegrated because
they were on nitrate stock. These film, which ran 10 to 15 minutes, were
shot mainly by semiprofessionals on the margins of the film industry. From
1930 to 1965 the United
States was the leading producer of stags,
the outlaw films that took their name from the "stag parties" where men
gathered to watch them. The samples at the Museum of Sex
reflect, in their style and content, the clandestine, ritualistic
characteristics of the original stag parties.
Another
early exhibition was "Virgins and Vamps" that traced the portrayal of women
from 1860 to 1960. This included examples of the starlets photographed
in 3D by early film legend, Harold Lloyd. There was a simple photograph of a
woman's dressing table topped with perfume bottles, a scattered red satin
shoe, and casually draped red lace panties. It told the story of a life.
The
early shows did not just detail aspects of the United States. One of the most
ambitious projects was"Sex Among The Lotus" which traced 2500 years of
Chinese erotic obsession. It included everything from Bronze Age poetry to
tomb tiles with explicit imagery dating back to the 2nd century. Throughout
the dynasties sex was considered a natural and essential act. In fact, sex
and nature are synonymous, sharing the same word "xing" The outdoor realm
provided couples the most satisfying setting for sex both in reality and in
art. The exhibit revealed aspects of Chinese sexual traditions that
were bad for women. It included making women's feet the focal point of
erotic obsession, and forcing young girls to have their feet painfully bound
to prevent them from growing. The ideal of these tiny "lotus bud"
feet was a limb no longer than five inches. The good part of the tradition
was that in their sexual manuals men were instructed to satisfy a women to
orgasm. Once the communists took power in 1947 they made sex a sin,.
Intercourse outside of marriage became a punishable crime. Publishing of
erotic literature was banned.
 The same repressive attitude
toward sex characterized American society from its inception and lingers in
segments of the culture now was on prominent display at The Museum of Sex.
Artifacts used to hide sex's shameful nature were exhibited in the two
narrow galleries on the first floor. They could also be seen in the
permanent collection housed on the second floor. Among them was the
elaborate disguises in packaging used in the past to hide the condoms men
would sneak into stores to buy. They could come in everything from miniature
houses to hat boxes. Only a little later did stores openly advertise
condoms.
Rebellion is in the very existence
of the Museum of Sex, in its mission statement that
urges open discourse about sexuality, and its provocative current
exhibit called "Rubbers" that flaunts the existence of condoms. It mixes
irreverence and information to convey the life, history, and struggle of the
condom. It traces its evolution from its humble beginning to become a
barometer of morality and a savior in the fight again HIV/AIDS. It shows its
influence on everything from science to politics, religion to art. The
exhibit includes vintage signs from campaigns for the sexual safety of
soldiers, and trendy condoms by renown designer Marc Jacobs.
 Highlights of the show also
include a conceptual art piece called the "Cruel Condom" crafted entirely
out of chain mail and spikes. There is a resin condom sculpture. The
centerpiece is a condom cocktail dress made from 1200 hand dyed condoms. It
is done in the style of fashion designer Valentino and was created by a
Brazilian artist Adriana Bertini.
An
equally provocative current exhibit is "The Sex Life of Animals." It
dares viewers to not be prudish by confronting them with photographs of two
elephants humping and an ape with an enormous erection. This show presents a
great array of animal sexual behavior including group sex and mutual
masturbation. It also includes life-sized animals made by Rune Olsen out of
materials like newspapers. They incorporate human-like glass
eyes that seduce the viewer into direct interaction with the gaze of the
animal.
 Art plays a supporting role
in all the exhibits. It has a starring role in the "Sex Lives of Robots."
The current show spotlights the work of Michael Sullivan. He transforms
fashion dolls and figurines into his form of personal expression. It
can be something as basic as a photograph of a doll. It might be an
elaborate tableau like "The Creation of Man." and "Insemination of
Lula 95304" made specifically for the Museum. In them and many of his works,
he transforms the dolls through paint and sculpturing techniques.
The Museum of Sex is participatory and has a computer
on the second floor for visitors to enter their own bawdy tales. It
also invites co-creation of shows. This joint effort is part of
the process for the upcoming exhibit "Techniques." It is about the methods
used from the Kama Sutra to the venus butterfly to add please to sex. People
are encouraged to recommend artifacts, film directors, editors, experts,
educators, anyone who can make the exhibition as strong as possible.
This
openness and celebration of sex are likely to be as much a part of
the future shows as of the past one. The Museum seems to make concrete with
its artifacts and images the message that sex is to be enjoyed. It is the
old Playboy philosophy raised to a higher, more intelligent level.
IF
YOU GO:
Museum
of Sex
233 Fifth Avenue(at 27th St)
New York,
New York
212-689-6337
Hours:
Sunday-Friday: 11am-6;30pm
Saturday: 11am-8pm
Price:
14.50+tax
13.50+ tax for seniors and students
No one
under 18 admitted.
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