ErotiX
DEFINITION of the EROTIC by ARTISTS of EMC'23
Erotic is when I am exposed to the sensation of the other being in an intimate way, and instincts and perceptions are working toghether and it developes into a strong yearning and all my senses are busy and engaged in this process and I also feel that the other being is sensing me and interested in me, interested to explore my physical qualities like my taste and smell, texture etc. <Robi>
private <Lina>
when I feel myself (and my partner feels herself) safe enough to be totally in the present, focusing on each other, reflecting on each other, being together
when my and her movements are mixed and just continuing each other, and we can feel both of us at the same time. <Enikő>
even though I enjoy being watched and keep the attention held of the other(s), consensuality multiplies our potentials
imagination rather often misleads… to entertain and push out from actual boundaries… to change… to sustain the impossibility of life
i am a superhuman who can love any body, adaptivity to diversity fills me up with vigor
i pray for the access to my full erotic presence that makes me strong and fearless, totally able to feel which connections are to nurture
erotic is self-aligned presence in relation <Csilla>
A truly embodied feeling of joy and creativity in which the senses are in a pleasurably heightened state and in collaboration with each to form a delightful multi layered symphony. It is also a sacred and safe place where one is totally present and connected with themselves, their partner(s) and the universe. Above all, it is a space of complete freedom, love, respect and, most important of all, play ;). <Indre>
of, devoted to, or tending to arouse sexual love or desire. <Marton>
aroused, open, focused, physical, powerful <Dotty>
It’s like magnets. <Attila>
A fleshy and sparkly taste on surfaces and events that generates sophisticated strategies to warm our physical and spiritual bodies. <Irene>
“Erotic" is something for me I really need to lick. <Marie>
THE WAYS WE GET INTIMATE WITHin NATURE
tried tree hugging. Not bad. Mushrooms are tasty and dangerous, Huhu, more for the tongue <Lina>
being present in nature, just observe, not interact. For me it gives a lot of energy and a kind of melancholy, because every time I have to come back to the city, I feel a void in myself. In the nature, among animals I can find my inner intimacy easier, but here I mean psychological intimacy not erotic. Like, have the courage to question myself or recognise my intuition. <Enikő>
I share emotions, like loss or grace, I share cravings, like being able to fulfill my role in the ecosystem, in life on Earth
They talk to me when I'm ready for them
I eat them and grow through them
They root me, especially mushrooms and lengthen me underground
We caresse, touch and lick each other
They let me violate them while objectifying them in my desires <Csilla>
I just took a gecko out of the house that was hiding in the clothes, with my bare hands. I was not aroused in any way, but since our skin touched softly, i could categorize this encounter as ‘intimate’. <Marton>
When I can, I like to sit with plants for a length of time and really tune into their presence through breathwork, mindfulness meditation, drawing them, taking naps beside them and tending to them and their surroundings (pruning, litter picking around) I observe and draw the various stages of the plant's growth through all the seasons… and learn their scientific and common names, both in english and lithuanian (this is my mother tongue), and the various stories that unfold once you begin to dig into their etymology. I love to dance in the woods, go for long walks, and forage as a way of connecting to the landscape, plants and our ancestors. By growing and creating medicines with the herbs I harvest, I help to heal myself, the people around me and the earth. By incorporating wild foods into my cooking and inviting friends over for wholesome dinners, I create a shared experience in which plants can nourish us and allow us to connect more intimately with one another. <Indre>
It's hard to tell what 'nature' is because nothing remains unchanged by human activity. As a kid I spent most of my free time alone in our garden, catching frogs and insects, observing the birds, and playing with our dog. I made friends with them way before I learned to get close to people. Lately I’ve been watching the Youtube channel of two Hungarian amateur mycologists while working on my computer. They don’t talk much on the videos, 2/3 of the footage is basically the noises of the forest and their footsteps on the leaves. Their enthusiasm for fungi is almost erotic. <Dotty>
In my usual everyday life the intimate moments when I can feed my cat and feed my fishes and water my plants and I can sense their satisfaction. This is as intimate as possible. There is a more subtle feeling when I go out to an old growth forest and I know that everything I see there is wild and feral and fleeting and still has a potential to connect with me if I am lucky and humble enough. Those are blessed intimate moments. <Robi>
Partly through getting to know them, discovering the complexity and vulnerability of the system. To try to understand the connections, recognize and visit natural habitats. Observing the details. Searching for rare species, working on a gallery of species. To document the changes of the seasons. It inspires, moves, soothes, like some kind of spiritual nourishment. <Attila>
It is been a while that I try to expand the senses and borders of my own body. I wonder about the sense of borders each body may have and how can I challenge mine. So I try to relate with other bodies’ entities under these premises.
Proximity is one of my favourite ways to explore this.
Tristana –the dog who lives with us– and me always sleep with half of our bodies in contact with each other. She nestles her back against my leg, I fit her shape bending my knee. <Irene>
Sometimes I want to lick stones… <Marie>
WAYS FUNGI AROUSE DESIRE
I found some sort of a pink bubblegum fungus recently in the woods. Desire for immediate hubbabubba <Lina>
they look so delicious, like gems on the ground, and also I always feel some kind of magic - just incredible and weird how they are working. <Enikő>
Taxonomy people are usually trapped in a treasure hunt mindset with mushrooms and they also love each other, other taxonomists, mainly because they all love fungi. It is a rather emotional circle.
Fungi arouse a lot of desire to care for them, pickers carefully cut off the dirt from the stembutts and arrange the delicious edible fruit bodies in a way they shine in their full beauty and show off the most info to decipher them, click and instagram.
Many species look very fleshy and some are actually tasty while being absolutely poisonous - similarly to humans.
Those who experiment with growing them for food or other purposes develop a deep somatic empathy with mushrooms. It is way beyond love; it is breathing with mycelium.
There’s a submovement of asmr audio performances that exclusively deal with the eating of mushrooms. But as all asmr contents are born to seduce, maybe this doesn’t count.
Those who are afraid, they also want to connect to mushrooms by kicking the fruit bodies with their feet. Some humans enjoy spreading the spores of fungi, e.g. by squeezing puffball fruit bodies.
By feeding us they give energy to reproduce. <Csilla>
some of them look sexually explicit (in a human way), so that can be one way. Or they might act as an aphrodisiac when consumed? <Marton>
By creating a diverse collection of smells, sights, textures and tastes (plus the many senses we don’t even understand yet) to appeal to as many different horny pollinators as possible, including myself. <Indre>
For me, the main motif in the intersection of the three topics- sex, mushrooms and art-is excess energy. Mushrooms grow after the rain. You can't make good art or have good sex if you don't have something to give. Also mushrooms are very mysterious- you don't exactly know where or when they show up and most of them are impossible to cultivate so you have to wait for them. <Dotty>
In mushrooms There is this instinctual or genetically coded stubborn desire to endevour all what is available around them and constantly growing and pushing around their micellium system like a net of soft feelers full of digestive fluid, this engagment and appetite is very sensual for me <Robi>
They are wonderful, fabulous, fascinative and tricky. It is a thrilling (and very long) journey to discover the rich palette of colors, smells, shapes and other attributes… <Attila>
Some animals, including us humans, are extremely visual beings.
The flashy and lush colours and the unexpected textures fungi have are too provocative for our eyes.
The sense of danger they entail may be attractive for some as well. <Irene>
Oh, they have power of some “new visualization" and different state of mind. And sometimes they are connect with pretty nice forest. I see them like a one of essence for good magic we can do together. <Marie>
ARTISTIC PRACTICE AS AN EROTIC POWER PLANT
it depends <Lina>
drawing is an ultimate safe place for me. I really love the daydreaming part too - when I’m just thinking about my upcoming plans and illustrations. <Enikő>
it is hard sometimes to keep the passion and pure joy of the making alive while the work passes through public validation…
collective- and intimate artistic/friendship-based ecosystems give lots of erotic scent and they often are the motor of a strong piece, they transcend through the translations towards audiences. <Csilla>
using a lot of red mixed with the skin tones <Marton>
Usually restriction (limited tools, a deadline, a structure to work within), fuels my creativity.. I find that I work best under some pressure, there is nothing like a looming deadline and the adrenaline that comes with it to really get your creativity (and erotic power)sparking! Having said that though, It is also important that I have a cozy space to rest and restore when I am not working, so the output is efficient and comes from a wholesome place. It's all about striking the right balance! <Indre>
Creating is sexy and visual art is very sensual. My major creative drives are sexual desire, anger and sadness. <Dotty>
I think in artistic practice there are so many feelings compressed. I used to paint a lot and found it very sensual among many other feelings. The sensuality of painting may come from the fact that you start with a clean surface and create a mess with different interesting substances and I can freely scrap them, push them around softly or strongly in a rhythm or out of rhythm. (Then I wanted to take this practice seriously and went to university and almost lost this kind of playful sensation) <Robi>
It’s easy to be a different person during work. The features are transforming, the limits are fading. I like the erotic lines, shapes, colors, although this may mean something different to everyone. Deep work makes me confident, at least while I'm in it. <Attila>
I think people who practice Art, in whichever form, are very privileged of having that space to develop themselves. We have created this place for ourselves where we are whoever we want to be, where we make whatever we want to make. In that sense artistic practice might be empowerful.
For artists who have a body-based practice that empowerment sometimes links to the erotic power each body has. While dancing there are some moments of full awareness of the self, of intense presence and present that can take a body to a powerful state of pleasure. <Irene>
When I was pregnant (and super horny) I started to draw, never do that before. And from that time I draw thousands of things, mostly some surrealistic landscapes full of holes, eyes, vulvas and stuff. I realize that it is some communication and also satisfaction for me… <Marie>
SOME OF OUR GROWING DESIRES
chocolate <Lina>
make hair braids, draw dotted patterns, do a digital detox for minimum a week (but that’s rather a wish :’)) <Enikő>
an unimagined printable orgasm,
hot asian soup eaten together with my chosen family,
a smartphone that saves the world and me,
eating a toxic mushroom and transform into a dolphin <Csilla>
my girlfriend in a mushroom suit <Marton>
Economic DEGROWTH - The wellbeing of our earth and it’s peoples over profit.
Relearning ancestral skills, becoming stewards of the earth and returning to the wild, where we belong. <Indre>
more power, more artmaking, less screen time and some food (maybe mushroom stew) <Dotty>
To go to bed soon <Robi>
I want chanterelles!!! <Attila>
Being aroused in every pore of my skin by warm and wet waves of light emanating from the Mycena luxaeterna I would find in my night walks inside the forests. <Irene>
Its quite boring, but my actual desire for the day is working. But hope tomorrow will be something different, because I have plenty of desires... Sometimes I need to eat bruschetta from bakery nearby all the day or randomly kissing or tortoise collecting or do variegate plant business… <Marie>