Solitary Pleasures

Slought is pleased to announce "Solitary Pleasures," on display from March 26 through April 21, 2010. The opening will take place on Friday, March 26 from 6:00-9:00pm, with a special lecture by Carolee Schneemann entitled "Infinity Kisses - The Movie" at 6pm. "Solitary Pleasures" is a provocative exhibition exploring the theme of masturbation and other forms of solitary pleasure, including smoking, drinking, reading, and art itself. The exhibition will feature historical works, contemporary works, and work by younger artists that present different visual representations of solitary pleasures. In addition, texts, quotations, and other research material will offer a larger historical context for appreciating the multiplicity of solitary pleasures in contemporary culture. A visual lineage including artists such as Durer, Titian, Giorgione, Hans Baldung Grien, among others will be suggested through reproductions, while quotations from Diogenes, Diderot, Rousseau, Kant, Freud, Irigaray, Foucault, Derrida, and others will offer an intellectual and historical context for the exhibition. Instead of trying to be exhaustive, the exhibition speculates on the possibilities posed by the subject of solitary pleasures.

Around 1712, a small anonymously authored book with the lengthy title Onania; or, The Heinous Sin of Self Pollution, and all its Frightful Consequences, in both SEXES Considered, with Spiritual and Physical Advice to those who have already injured themselves by this abominable practice. And seasonable Admonition to the Youth of the nation of Both SEXES ushered in a period of widespread panic concerning the dangers of masturbation throughout the Western world. Transformed from at worst a minor sin barely worth mentioning or punishing, Onania attributed a wide range of common ailments to the even more common activity. Written by a profiteering quack surgeon, John Marten, the text concluded with advertisements providing expensive elixirs to the ills caused by masturbation, warning readers that the continuation of the act could be lethal without use of the medicine. Ranking high among eighteenth-century best sellers, Onania was a huge success with over 60 editions published and being translated into several languages. Moreover, the book gave birth to an industry of texts on onanism, as Thomas W. Laqueur's authoritative Solitary Sex: A Cultural History of Masturbation details. On the cusp of the Enlightenment, rationalization through causality constructed an irrational fear. The ills described in Onania and her offspring were shared by most people, given the diet and living conditions of the early eighteenth-century. Given human nature, there was a cause at hand to place the blame.

The controversy stirred by masturbation continued into the twentieth century. In 1910, the meetings of the Vienna psychoanalytic circle on the subject of Onanie offered no resolution on the subject. Moreover, the discussion was suppressed from publication by members of the group. Freud's own views on onanism reflect both progress and conservatism. His theories place a priority on masturbation, noting as early as 1897 that "masturbation is the one major habit." In doing so, he associates it with addictive substances, including alcohol, tobacco, or morphine. These solitary pleasures are marked negatively as infantile, narcissistic, and poor substitutes for unfulfilled desires, maintaining the negative associations of masturbation even while elevating its stature in the formation of the self. Freud also continues the articulation of an androcentric discourse of sexuality, making clitoral stimulation a lesser form of sexual pleasure than vaginal stimulation. It is only by the middle of the twentieth century that attitudes towards masturbation and sex begin to significantly shift. Yet, as recently as 1995, Jocelyn Elders was forced to step down from the position of Surgeon General for suggesting that masturbation be included in the discussion of safe sex practices taught in sex educational programs.

Like death, masturbation remains a taboo subject, one whose propriety is often delineated by context. Yet, this has not always been the case. We can think back to Chrysippus' account of Diogenes the Cynic masturbating in the public market, telling the bystanders "Would to Heaven that by rubbing my stomach in the same fashion, I could satisfy my hunger." If only all our world problems were so easy to solve. Solitary Pleasures does not offer a comprehensive exhibition on masturbation and other forms of isolated pleasure. Rather, it opens further avenues for a reclamation and exploration of a fundamentally shared human and humane experience as represented through an array of artistic perspectives and media.