Sexuality and Fertility in Art, through the Ages and into a Curious Future
Companion “gallery” of “Art, Science and Technology of Human Sexuality” Editorial for Special Issue in MDPI Arts Journal
Last year I wrote “Sex Robots, an African Heroine, and the Uncanny Valley (Part 1)”, after African artist Milumbe Haimbe’s graphic novel brought the very concept of “sex robots” to my consciousness, and after I was stunned to discover subsequently that such creatures were already under development in the real world, no longer a science fiction!
Instead of a Part 2, in which I would explore the Uncanny Valley of sexual humanoids, my continued research in this topic has lead to a Special Issue titled “Art, Science and Technology of Human Sexuality” in MDPI’s Arts Journal, which I am running as a Guest Editor inviting contributions from scholars, who would have more expertise in the subjects. Although prompted by the emergence of sexbots, the purpose of the Special Issue is to stimulate much broader (and deeper) inquisition and renewed understanding of sex, sexuality and human relationships from multiple disciplines, as well as reflections on what the sexbot phenomenon is forcing us to confront on scientific, cultural, social, and ethical levels, from diverse points of view.
And here, as a companion piece for my Editorial, visually exemplifying the spirit and scope of the Special Issue, is a showcase of artworks and artefacts humans have been making throughout history and into the present day, on the subject of sex, love, fertility and procreation.
Understanding where we came from helps illuminate where we are going. As science and technology advances challenge the most primal and elemental aspects of human existence, with unprecedented benefits as well as unsettling pitfalls, art offers not only comic relief but also profound insights.
The Prehistoric
Bas-relief carvings in a massive red-basalt outcropping in the remote Xinjiang region, the petroglyphs were discovered in the late Eighties by Chinese archaeologist Wang Binghua. Jeannine Davis-Kimball, an expert on Eurasian nomads, was the first Westerner to see them and detail them in scientific journals.
This maybe “the world’s oldest pornography”, with the earliest - and some of the most graphic - depictions of copulation in the world.
The ancient — Hindi wisdom
Written by Vātsyāyana, the Kama Sutra is not only considered the standard work on human sexual behaviour in Sanskrit literature, but also a guide to virtuous and gracious living discussing the nature of love, family life, and other aspects pertaining to pleasure-oriented faculties of human life.
“The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of art work, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples… Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices.Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples.” (Wikipedia)
The ancient — Greek mythology
In Greek mythology, Leda was an Aetolian princess married to Tyndareus, King of Sparta. A beautiful woman, Leda was admired by Zeus, who seduced her in the guise of a swan and impregnated her the same night she slept with her husband. Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the same time bearing Castor and Clytemnestra, children of Tyndareus.
Pygmalion, a Cypriot sculptor, carved a woman out of ivory then fell in love with her, eventually marrying her under Aphrodite’s blessing. Pygmalion and Galatea even had offsprings. The story of breathing life into a statue has parallels in several Greek myths. “The trope of a sculpture so lifelike that it seemed about to move was a commonplace with writers on works of art in antiquity”, and was “inherited by writers on art after the Renaissance” (Wikipedia).
The religious
With solid stone, the famous Italian Baroque sculpture masterfully portrays the saint, in the moment of her union with God, “as a swooning female mystic, eyes closed as she ascends heavenwards on a cloud. Beside her stands a sweetly smiling angel, lifting a fold of her drapery with one hand while preparing, with the other, to pierce her breast with a dart of Divine Love.” (Art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon).
The secular erotica
It is worth noting that most of the masterpieces below, by some of the greatest artists known to the world, was considered scandalous in their times. Today we admire them in museums.
“In this beautifully unpretentious piece of erotic art Rembrandt shows not nymphs and satyrs but a real Dutch couple — perhaps him and his lover Hendrickje Stoffels– making love in their cosy bed. You feel the chill in the room, and the couple’s comfort as they embrace one another.” (The Guardian)
“The woman arches her torso in willful surrender to her partner, who bends at his ease to kiss her. Rodin temepered the work’s overt eroticism by giving it a variety of classicizing titles. First called Zephyr and Earth and later exhibited in the Paris Salon of 1897 as Cupid and Psyche, the composition’s true subject is sensuality and impassioned lovemaking.” (The Met)
The artist considers this painting as the epitome of pleasurable and sensual delight.
Depicting a couple locked in a tender and vibrant embrace, flecked with gold and filled with flowers, The Kiss is perhaps Klimt’s most popular and clear celebration of sexual love, representing the high point of the artist’s Gold Phase and is often considered a prime example of Art Nouveau painting. Ironically it was painted during an artistic crisis — his prior three-part Vienna Ceiling series had created a scandal and been criticized as both ‘pornography’ and evidence of ‘perverted excess’. By contrast, the more subtle eroticism of The Kiss was enthusiastically received, and was sold before it was even finished.
Picasso created many pieces (at least 10) named The Kiss (or Le Baiser) in his lifetime, among them at least four in 1969, when the artist turned 88.
“The theme of the couple, omnipresent throughout Picasso’s career, became virtually an obsession toward the end of his life. The realism of the tender or violent scenes of kissing couples, usually portrayed without a decor, shows how much importance sexual love had for the artist.
“All the paintings of this period that represent couples illustrate the same fusion of two beings. Gone is the erotic frenzy of the sexual act in former years; expressed here is the tenderness and serenity of Picasso’s years with Jacqueline. Subsequently, the theme of the couple was to take on a more pathetic aspect.” (www.PabloPicasso.org)
The contemporary sociocultural
“The Kiss (1901–1094) is one of French artist Auguste Rodin’s most famous sculptures, showing the naked embrace of two lovers. The piece depicts unsanctioned erotic desire, and in its early history it disquieted public morality… Tracey Rose echoed this rebellious spirit of uninhibited sexuality when she referenced Rodin’s sculpture in 2001, playfully taking on the role of the sinuous female figure in her photographic version of ‘The Kiss’. Christian Haye of The Project, her dealer in New York, played the male. Thus the sexual negotiation of power and position that occurs during a kiss is reflected by the negotiation that happens between artist and gallerist.
“Shot in black and white at the South African National Gallery, the photograph emphasizes the difference in skin colour between the two figures. Rose invokes the masterpiece not only to commit the artistic solecism of imitation and copying, but to upset the unity of whiteness reproduced in Rodin’s cold marble figures.” (Sue Williamson “South African Art Now”)
The medical “folksy”
“Medical students, at Guy’s Hospital, waiting ‘on take in’ to deliver a baby had a lot of time on their hands and in 1908 an unknown student with an artistic bent and a knife started a tradition which lasted for 46 years. Taking what appears to be some of the skirting board or panelling from the sitting room in which the students passed away the slow hours, he carved the date, his initials and a vaguely gynaecological scene. This ‘art work’ was greeted with approval by his fellows and became an important marker for students at this time in their undergraduate career.
“It needs to be said that a combination of medical student humour, the practice of obstetrics and gynaecology and what was acceptable between 1908 and 1954 is a potent brew.” (Bill Edwards, Curator, Gordon Museum)
“This is an eight-cell stage human embryo. It is held in place by the needle on the left. The zona pellucida surrounding the embryo is pierced and 1–2 cells are removed for genetic analysis. Removing this much material from the embryo is not detrimental to its development. If shown to be healthy the embryo can be implanted into a woman.” (Emma Bell)
The frontier scientific
The image centers on a mouse ovarian follicle (in purple), but the scientific research demonstrated here is intended for a frontier branch of reproductive science called “oncofertility”, bridging oncology and reproductive research to explore and expand options for the reproductive future of cancer survivors.
“An ovarian follicle is made up of a developing egg and its surrounding support cells. Normally follicles develop within healthy ovaries, but they can be damaged by harsh cancer therapies. Healthy follicles can be removed before patients undergo treatment, but afterward these saved follicles often struggle to grow into healthy eggs.
“Laronda and Jakus have created a new paper-like biomaterial made of ovarian proteins (in green). It is designed to support removed follicles as they develop into mature eggs. This image shows a healthy follicle flourishing in the new environment. Someday supportive biomaterials like these could help cancer survivors grow families of their own.” (Northwestern University)
Perhaps one day for non-cancer infertility patients too?
The futuristic
The controversial
The ageless debate about what is morally acceptable in sexual behavior and manifestations has taken on new dimensions. What we haven’t figured out about the complicated matters of love, sex and intimacy among humans is now ported over and entangled with the promise and perils of artificial life.
Those in favor of “technosexuality” see potential benefits for ordinary couples (e.g., helping them enact fantasies, adding spice, working through differences that might otherwise cause them to separate, and allowing the partner with higher libido to enjoy a fulfilling sex life without straying) as well as for sex workers (reducing sexual exploitation and violence against them). Those campaigning against sex with robots consider it a part of rape culture, liken owning a sex robot to owning a slave, warn of erosion of human empathy, condemn further objectification of female bodies, and advocate maintaining sanctity of sex as an experience between human beings.
The above examples are of course not meant to be comprehensive — an endeavor of that sort would be nearly impossible. Rather, they are intended to visually demonstrate the scope of the Special Issue and the various aspects of the subject matter it invites. I hope art provides a fresh perspective and inspires thoughts and discussions (or debates), for both academic authors as well readers/writers here on Medium.
If one cannot find a reproductive partner, do they have the right to procreate on their own, should such technology be available?
If one cannot find a human sexual partner, do they have the right to have a sexual life with a robot, should such technology be available?
If one finds that such “alternative” is not so bad after all, as “last resort” or “second choice” as it may have seemed when one had to settle for it, will it further threaten the trinity of “marriage, sex and co-parenting”, already shaky with declining marriage rates and rising divorce rates in almost all OECD countries?
One of the many arguments against sexbots is that they cause reduced birth rates and threaten species diversity. Will reproductive technology elsewhere (e.g. advances in same sex reproduction) in the population make up for that loss? If so, what could be the consequences of such rebalancing?
If society accepts homosexuality, which also has reproductive implications, what is then different about technosexuality, in this respect?
I welcome your research and opinions on these and many other related questions. Contribute to the Special Issue, or share your ideas here or in one of our social channels. (Facebook, Twitter).
