Glory holes, dimly lit corridors and halls full of people trying to find the washroom – all things that will look happily familiar to Squirters – with just one small difference. Some of the folks wandering around this space might actually just need to pee.
In early July, the Venice Biennial played host to a series of exhibits and events that examined how cruising has influenced architecture and public space. Located in Giudecca – Venice’s industrial district, the Pavilion is a warehouse where artists paid homage to cruising and showcased how queer sex can flourish in all sorts of naughty places.
Curators Octave Perrault, Pierre-Alexandre Mateos, Rasmus Myrup and Charles Teyssou wanted to expose (pun intended) more people to a vital element of public space that remains largely ignored:
“Cruising was a common subject for us, but we noticed there wasn’t a culture of exhibitions devoted to the topic.”
The Pavilion focuses on how cruising apps like Squirt.org are being used for a lot more than just fucking and pays tribute to pre-digital cruising spaces like San Francisco’s Mine Shaft. According to one artist, cruising sites are a popular place to make friends and have political discussions (while comparing dick pics).
More information and (dick) pics from the Pavilion are available here.
Mixed on this. Does light really need to shined upon it? I mean, put it in people’s minds, they might be more likely to look for it and report it. I dunno….
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