It felt a bit disjointed strolling through the walkway between McCaw Hall and the Exhibition Hall this past weekend; on one side were elegantly dressed men and women preparing to enjoy a performance from the Seattle Opera, and on the other was the crowd attending the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, which has for just more than 10 years been providing a home for sex-positive art in Seattle.
See the full set of photos from the Seattle Erotic Art Festival. Most slideshow images are safe for work, but be aware of occasional nudity.
The two events seemed, on the face, worlds apart, and yet I found in the temporary halls of SEAF the same kind of creative, open-minded, beautiful, surprising performances and displays that are the provence of all great art. There were just more dirty pictures and bondage gear than there might have been at the Opera.
I enjoyed roaming much of the erotic frontier, accepting whatever came to me without judgement and without preconception. I did laugh and, at times, roll my eyes at what felt like particularly sophomoric works; some of the art work felt pretty ridiculous. And, yet, more often, I felt enlightened by what I saw, and challenged on a level that artwork rarely reaches for me. It was a kind of beauty I didn’t expect, but welcomed.
Many silly and sexy items for sale at the “XXX Shop” including prints of the art hanging in the gallery.
One conceptual piece hooked up attendees to wires that read their brainwaves while looking at erotic items. You even got to take away a print out.
Live painting by John Osgood and Seb Barnett, allowing viewers to become part of the art by sitting for them
At around 8 or 8:30 speakers stepped up on stage to talk about their personal sexual experiences from losing their virginity to getting caught in a school cafeteria.
Artists and attendees mingled quietly for the first hour of the event taking a look at all the pieces availble for viewing.
It wasn’t just the participants that got dolled up at this event. Spectators and artists alike took part in the fancy, sexy outfits.
Even the food had a naughty twist with sandwiches in the shape of penises and cupcakes with vagina chocolates.
The artist Henry was live-painting during the entirety of the evenings festivities. This is near the start of this piece.
All sorts of costumes could be found throughout the fest.
This loungy set of lips invited viewers to take a seat and nibble on dark chocolate kisses with a lover or on your own.
I attempt to see beauty in nearly all things. At times it was difficult to see it and bondage is one of those times. While the participants were not in distress, it can still have a negative connotations.
These dancers were moving each other, but only after given permission by the lead. It created a unique work of art from moment to moment.
To add a little mood music without piping it throughout the entire hall, a string player performed for about two hours with dulcet and dark tones.
A couple pieces were meant to be interacted with (while most requested you not photograph or touch them). This one encouraged grafitti.
Some performers were bringin the viewers into their works with interactive dances and movement.
