The Department of Sexual Revolutions Studies - Workshop Kink

Week three - Kink

Domination and submission of the sexual kind can take many forms, for example, physical, psychological, or financial, where agency and consent are central to the sexual exchange. BDSM definitions in turn provide a useful framework for looking at the distinctions between economic, religious and cultural imperialism. We will look at the concepts of ‘topping from below’, and the sexual position of the ‘switch’ to help understand how nations, groups and individuals can occupy both the dominator and dominated role simultaneously.

The Department of Sexual Revolutions Studies

The Department of Sexual Revolutions Studies is a collaboration between the Van Abbemuseum and the Design Academy Eindhoven, lead by Eimear Walshe as part of the Deviant Practice Research Programme. The department is a new learning platform invested in critical enquiry on the subject of sexual revolution in art, design and visual culture. The public are invited to join the five weekly sessions at the Van Abbemuseum.
Combining the interests and methodologies of queer theory and gender studies, it also seeks to emphasise the legacy of sexual revolution outside of Europe and America. Rather than a focus solely on the liberalisation of attitudes around sexual practices, it will look at examples of antagonism, transgression, inversion and repression as moments which reveal power and inequality. The department has a particular interest in strategies which wield sexuality as a force for social change, from ‘sex strikes’ to ‘kiss-ins’, whether through the power of its visibility, or the threat of its absence. In each session we will ask: how can contemporary sexual practices help us to better understand the relationship between sexuality and society today, including issues such as politics, housing, and technology?