The Thing Quarterly, Issue 16
I am obsessed with THE THING QUARTERLY. The idea of collaborating with artists to this extent is amazing. Issue 16 by Dave Eggers especially stood out to me. I always think about how others perceive me, no matter the activity, so the idea of an object doing that resonates with me.
“I like when you like yourself. When you give a moment to your thighs. When you give a moment to the back of your neck, to the inner fold of your arm. Take a moment. Give yourself time. Take the soap and make circles on your flesh. Make slow circles on your flesh. Make long elliptical shapes upon your beautiful flesh. Your beautiful flesh today. Tomorrow, your flesh will be different. It will be older. Appreciate it now. Your flesh is a miracle.” I know I'm taking this quote out of context a bit, but this line alone is so powerful. There is something so erotic yet grotesque about it. Something so beautiful is written on this shower curtain that as you read it, you can’t help but attach yourself to the piece. What makes our brains perceive the work in that way?
It makes me think of the relationships we hold between objects. They serve as ways we reflect on, communicate, and define ourselves—object relations theory “emphasizes unconscious relationships that have been internalized in childhood and continue to influence adult relations” (Science Direct). These objects are not fixed points either; they change and adapt as you gain new experiences. I think a good example of this theory is the Bobo Doll experiment, as kids, toys are seen as a positive object, so in the first round of the study, the children were nonaggressive playing with the toys in front of them, but observing the adults physically or verbally assaulting the Bobo doll. In the second pass, however, when the children were left alone in the room, they used the behavior they had learned previously and began to act more aggressively toward the doll and other objects in the room. Of course, this is a very bare-boned explanation of the experiment, but it is an example of how we perceive objects and how learned behavior affects and changes the way we hold the item. “Modern object relations theory proposes that, in the case of any particular conflict around sexual or aggressive impulses, the conflict is embedded in an internalized object relation, that is, in a repressed or dissociated representation of the self (‘self representation’) linked with a particular representation of another who is a significant object of desire or hatred (‘object representation’). Such units of self-representation, object representation, and the dominant sexual, dependent, or aggressive affect linking them are the basic ‘dyadic units,’ whose consolidation will give rise to the tripartite structure” (Science Direct).
At the beginning of another paper by Science Direct, they start with a question. That question is “Why do people adorn their bodies, homes, and offices with objects?” One of the answers to that is similar to we are what we eat, we are what we have. We use objects to signify identity in both group memberships, but also in important life events. Self-regulation to monitor our progress and performance on the goals we set for ourselves. And self-view, how other people or we view ourselves as a person.
How does the brain perceive spaces as erotic? Well, sexual desire is categorized as a broad interest in sexual objects or experiences, while sexual arousal is both a subjective feeling and a physiological term. “Sexual behavior relies on the processing of sexual stimuli, which allows individuals to enter the human sexual cycle.” “However, sex impact in humans' everyday life lies broadly outside its archetypical purpose” (Wiley, Brain Behavior). A little further in the article it states, “Sexual behavior requires implicit sensory stimuli that are evaluated as sexually salient and compared to past experiences, thus prompting an elicited motivational state. The respective anatomical substrates are limbic forebrain structures such as the hypothalamus, amygdala, hippocampus, and nuclei of the septal region, employed in motivational states and emotional processing. Different sensory cues are integrated by limbic structures in an unconscious way, thus triggering typical autonomic responses (heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory frequency increase along with brainstem structures).” In simpler terms, sexual behavior is caused by sensory signals that we subconsciously associate with sex. These signals compare themselves to past experiences, affecting our feelings on the matter. And the different areas of the brain involved in this process send messages to the body, helping us react to the situation. Stemming from that, we can assume that because of this process in the brain, when in a space that you had a previous experience in or is stereotyped to be romantic or sexual to an extent, the brain will perceive it as erotic.
Where is the line between erotic and grotesque? Let's first compare the two definitions, erotic (art) is devoted to tending to arouse sexual love or desire while grotesque is classified as “a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms often interwoven with foliage or similar figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness, or caricature”(Webster). Another good term for this word is fanciful, bizarre, or departing from the natural, expected, or typical. Personally, I think we need to briefly talk about ero guro. This “is an artistic genre that puts its focus on eroticism, sexual corruption, and decadence. As a term, it is used to denote something that is both erotic and grotesque” (Wikipedia). “This subculture of art dedicated itself to the explorations of the bizarre and ridiculous. The genre of writing known as Erotic Grotesque Nonsense was a way to mourn. While there was entertainment value to be found in extremes ranging from erotic relationships to nonsensical humor, writers were voicing their discontent with modernity” (Erotic Grotesque Nonsense). I believe the line between the erotic and the grotesque can be so blurred. I think that you're always teetering on the edge of both, but sometimes you dip further into one side than the other.
Regarding Issue 16 of THE THING QUARTERLY by Dave Eggar, the relationship between the curtain and the viewer can be interpreted in many ways. Personally, I see it as something so grotesquely beautiful, something erotic. The curtain is so matter-of-factly infatuated with you that it no longer wants to think; it just wants to watch you clean yourself and rub circles of soap across your flesh. This is a piece celebrating you and your body, reminding you that you are perfect and beautiful and infatuating and loved unconditionally, if not by anything, then at least by your shower curtain.
References:
Author links open overlay panelNicole L Mead 1, 1, 2, It has long been argued that people become attached to objects because objects help people to define, Belk, R. W., Csikszentmihalyi, M., Furby, L., Baumeister, R. F., Scheier, M. F., Bargh, J. A., Kruglanski, A. W., Fishbach, A., Geyer, R. L., & McCullough, M. E. (2020, July 22). Do objects fuel thyself? The relationship between objects and self-regulation. Current Opinion in Psychology. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X20301160#:~:text=Conclusion,objects%20may%20promote%20self%2Dregulation.
Calabrò, R. S., Cacciola, A., Bruschetta, D., Milardi, D., Quattrini, F., Sciarrone, F., la Rosa, G., Bramanti, P., & Anastasi, G. (2019, December). Neuroanatomy and function of human sexual behavior: A neglected or unknown issue?. Brain and behavior. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6908863/
Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Albert Bandura. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Albert-Bandura
Erotic grotesque nonsense: Veiled criticism through extreme ... (n.d.). https://scholarship.shu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4157&context=dissertations
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-a). Erotic Definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/erotic
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-b). Erotic Definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/erotic
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.-c). Grotesque definition & meaning. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/grotesque
Object relations theory. Object Relations Theory - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics. (n.d.). https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/object-relations-theory#:~:text=Object%20relations%20theory%20is%20one,reflection%20on%20the%20old%20forms.
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, September 13). Ero Guro. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ero_guro
YouTube. (n.d.). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDyy7yRvdac
