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.
