Workshop in Prague
Introduction coming soon.
Somateca at La Reina Sofía
We kicked off our First International Symposium in May 2013 with a workshop for Paul B. Preciado’s symposium Living and Resisting in the Neoliberal Condition in the Somateca Program for Advanced Studies in Critical Practices workshop series, held at La Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, Spain. Paul invited us to give a workshop titled Ecosex in the Age of Neoliberalism.
Paul described his symposium as an exploration of the “implications of the neo- liberal condition, by introducing new forms of activism and critical languages as responses to the collapse of disciplinary institutions and the revision of medical, socio-political, and audiovisual discourses centered around the body.” He asked us to explore ecosex as a way to counter the policies of austerity that were being forced on the Spanish by their government. Spain, along with the other three southern European Union countries Portugal, Italy, and Greece, had received loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions provided this funding with the stipulation that if the loans were not repaid in a timely manner, the funds would be collected by taking other resources. International lenders make huge profits by holding national resources as collateral in cases of default. These publicly held asets include property, mineral rights, and national pension funds. Losing these assets severely impacted the quality of life for ordinary people, as the governments of Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain were forced to impose austerity policies on their citizenry in order to repay the loans that they could not afford.
We had experience with similar issues right in our own neighborhood. Part of the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis was the epidemic of foreclosures. It was largely centered on families taking out loans that they could not afford. When they could not pay back their loans, lenders took their homes. Beth started Occupy Bernal during a meeting that took place around our kitchen table. Occupy Bernal saved more than one hundred of our neighbors and families from foreclosure and evictions. But that is another story.3
Paul invited us to present because he saw our focus on love and respect for the natural environment as a way to be in the world celebrating the Earth for reasons other than instrumental profit or gain. For the workshop we could not have asked for a more committed group. The Somateca participants were seasoned activists, professional community organizers, NGO workers, and intellectuals who were living through the economic deterioration of southern Europe. They were extremely critical of neoliberalism and interested in resisting the system.
First we took the group on a walk to Parque del Retiro. We gave each participant a copy of our “25 Ways to Make Love to the Earth” as a sort of trail guide, and we encouraged them to experience ecosex in a variety of ways, using all their senses. When we reached the park’s highest knoll, we invited the participants to repeat our wedding vows “to love, honor, and cherish the Earth.” Later at the museum’s workshop space we formed breakout groups, which we asked to explore possibilities for ecosexual activism using drawing and map making. We received some very interesting comments, including that of one group who suggested that the slowing down of experience and movement during our walking tour was a powerful way to remove oneself from the constant demand for productivity. We also got some interesting feedback from a few folks who were not quite ready to embrace our vision. Overall, we felt our workshop in this context was a big success.
Boulder Creek Ecosex Workshop
We held a one-day ecosex workshop in the redwood forests of the Santa Cruz Mountains at Penny Slinger’s goddess temple. This was a magical experience, the weather was perfect and we could certainly feel the love of the trees, the dirt, the grass and each other. We asked the trees’ permission before hugging them, we discussed “what in nature turned us on,” and we found our e(cology) spots. Then we played with our newfound knowledge. It was a deeply fun and enlightening experience that opened up new horizons for many who participated.
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Gijón Workshop
In preparation for our Black Wedding to Coal (midnight, on July 23, 2011), which was coincidentally Annie’s birthday. Black Wedding to Coal was produced in collaboration with LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial (Art and Industrial Creation Center). General Francisco Franco’s fascist regime had originally built the huge complex to be an orphanage and school, but it had been remade into a cutting-edge contemporary art center.
We spent our first several days in Gijón researching the region’s history of coal mining in order to address this history in our wedding. We drove around with Pedro Soler, the head curator at LABoral and our co-producer, Diana. We visited a range of sites from a thriving organic farm to a devastated beach where coal tailings were dumped into the Atlantic Ocean. Between these two extremes we also visited Pozo Fortuna, a small exhibition mining camp, where we were given a tour of the tunnel where mining explosives had been stored. We viewed the Fortuna Well monument, designed by Juan Luis Varela and erected to commemorate the three hundred to four hundred anti-fascists killed in that region during the Franco regime and buried together in the Fortuna Well.
The next day, a retired miner gave us a tour of the Mining Museum in Langreo. This miner handed Beth a piece of scrip, which is a private currency system that coal miners received as pay. The coin was exactly the same kind of company scrip that West Virginia miners were forced to use to purchase necessities at inflated prices from the coal company store. We learned that by the time we were visiting, the Spanish government had shut down the coal mining industry in Asturias. By 2018, it would be shut down in the entire country. This was due to the dominance of cheap international imports and a growing awareness of the environmental problems caused by coal mining.
We were struck by two things. First, that the violent fascist history of Spain was still very present, and second, that the scars left by the coal mining industry were not confined to Appalachia. We returned to our apartment determined to consider these two themes.
Pedro had set up Ecosexuality: Understanding Space through the Body, a workshop with our wedding collaborators from July 20–23, during which we could all work together to prepare for the wedding performance. His talented group of collaborators included dancers, ecologists, healers, performance artists, writers, psycho-magicians, and sex workers—a dynamic mix of punk, porn, and conceptual art. The workshop allowed us to bond as a team, create performances, and make costumes, props, and other Coal-themed accouterments.
Barcelona Ecosex Workshop 1 & 2
In Barcelona, mid July, we facilitated our first two ecosex workshops, Ecosex 1 & Ecosex 2. Our friend and colleague Diana Pornoterrorista produced the workshops in collaboration with Hangar Visual Arts Center. We had eighteen people attend each workshop who came from six different countries.
For Ecosex 1, after introductions, we went to Parck De Centre Poblenou, which was a strangely designed park inspired by the French architect’s dream. We discussed asking Nature permission before connecting physically. (It’s only right!) We then looked for and shared our e-spots, got massaged and tickled by weeping willow trees, walked barefoot in the fountain, licked and kissed the grass, and other ecosensual delights. Homework was to masturbate and think of an ecosex fantasy, then make a video/photo/drawing/project and bring it to share with the group. We were all delighted and inspired by the offerings the next day.
Then, we went to a public beach and all got naked (legal in Barcelona), put clay all over our bodies, and the ocean waves had their way with us on the shoreline. We connected with the sky and exfoliated with the sand. We laughed a lot! By the end of the day everyone was fully identifying as “ecosexual” and we did a mini group wedding, where everyone took vows to love, honor and cherish the Earth. We gave each person a ring and an official ecosexual diploma. The bliss was palpable.
For Ecosex 2 we went to Cultadelia Park. We started off sharing the history of the ecosex movement. We went over some of the theory, ecosex fetishes, paraphileias and proclivities. We shared our ecosex scale. We read our hilarious ecosex lexicon, and people added some new words in Spanish throughout the day. Ecosexercises consisted of some blindfolded Earth cuddling, extreme tree hugging, and making love to the Earth energetically through breath, undulation, intention, and imagination. Sprinkle demonstrated eco-ecstatic breathing to energy orgasm. We smelled, tasted, touched, looked at and listened to flowers, lavender, honeysuckle, dirt, clouds, and more.
The climax of the workshops took place at San Pau de Mar, an hour north of the city by train. Our participants were amazingly open minded, enthusiastic, willing and darling. We asked them to each come prepared to offer an ecosex experience, performance, story, etc. to the group. The whole day was spent taking turns experiencing the offerings. One person showed us how to make love to fruits and vegetables; another offered sandalwood scented clay body painting. One person brought honey, which we put all over our bodies then exfoliated with the sand. A spontaneous watermelon fight broke out and we giggled with delight. Two participants offered some delightful eco-bdsm scenes with tall grass flagellation, aloe vera cactus spanking, sand bondage, and more. A woman from South America recreated the ancient Pachamama ritual. A woman sang and cried for the earth and asked us all to spray seawater on her from our mouths. We gave ourselves to the sea in a circle. We thought it might get cold and rain, but it never did. The whole experience was magical and according to the feedback, a life changing, paradigm shift for all. Including us. The waxing moon lit our way home. The workshops surpassed all our wildest expectations. We feel that this will be the first of many future ecosex workshops around the world.