Unravelling De Sade October 28, 2006

The abstraction and mutation of the human form -- specifically the female form -- has long been a vehicle for the discussion of violence and ideology, and how they fit into the "big picture" of the human condition. Pierre Klossowski interrogated the relationships between art, religion and eroticism, and through his diverse artistic pursuit made an important contribution to the way we view De Sade today, bringing him out of the darkened wings and recesses of monstrosity and onto the human stage. A tenuous and controversial subject, De Sade's celebration of the "deconstruction" of the female body through cruel and creative acts of sex and violence has inspired a spectrum of diverse philosophical attitudes towards the erotic as a whole: politicising both the female body and the notion of beauty, and bridging the gap between the erotic and the pornographic. In the context of the current Hans Bellmer exhibition at the Whitechapel, Unravelling De Sade will examine the transformation of the erotic body as a response to a prevailing social paradigm.
NB: this course has been programmed in conjunction with the Hans Bellmer and Pierre Klossowski exhibitions (both run till 19/11).

(via kultureflash.net)

Official Website: http://www.kultureflash.net/current/#event4001