Eroplay
Eroplay is a word coined in 1984 by Frank Moore (performance artist) to describe intense physical play and touching of oneself and others released from the linear goals of sex and orgasm.[1][note 1]
Interviewed in 1983 by performance artist Linda Montano, Moore did not yet have the word. Asked if there is “something other than sex”, Moore replied: “Yes, but there are no words for it in the English language. I like kids. Kids are very physical, but it is not sex, not sexual. But we have lost that possibility. We need it, but we mix it up with sex and think sex is what we want, but it’s really being close that we want. We need sex, too, but the two are different – being physical and sex. We go after sex so intensely because we confuse the one with the other.”[2]
In “Eroplay” (1989) Moore gives a more extended definition of eroplay:
The word “eroplay” was first published in 1985 in “Eroplay in Life and Art”.[note 2] In the years following this publication, the word “eroplay” has entered the language, both through interviews with Moore[3] and journalistic articles/reviews about his art, philosophy and performances in a variety of media, from small press zines to large circulation newspapers.[note 3] One early example is C. Carr’s article in the Village Voice (May 1987) after attending Frank Moore’s performance, “Intimate Cave”. This article documents the use of the word, both describing how it is defined and also how it is used as a physical ritual in the performance.[4] Carr also wrote, in The Fiery Furnace, Performance in the ‘80s, War in the ‘90s:
... Moore’s performances focus on what he calls eroplay, “an intense physical playing or touching of oneself and others” (press release), and they don’t work without audience participation. Spectators were urged to explore Moore’s body, then each other’s. Intimate Cave went on for five hours ...[5]
Below are a few examples of the way in which “eroplay” entered the language through these published pieces, and also how Frank Moore’s work and Moore himself became associated with the word “eroplay”:
“Frank Moore is the director of a performance group based in Berkeley, California. He is the creator of ‘eroplay,’ a kind of performance art that involves nudity and physical acts.”
Eroplay is Fun, Veronica Vera, Adam Magazine, February 1987 [6]
“… the shamanistic exhibitionism (or ‘eroplay’) of the paraplegic Frank Moore …”
The Surpassing Body, Herbert Blau, The Drama Review (Summer 1991) [7]
“(Frank Moore) Berkeley performance artist, sonic shaman, and ‘eroplay’ explorer….”
The East Bay Express, March 23, 2001 [note 4]
“Other performance artists veer into even more threatening territory … Johanna Went uses giant tampons with fake blood and shit in her work, and Frank Moore (a man with cerebral palsy) propounds ‘Eroplay,’ which involves nude interaction with the audience.”
Arresting Images: Impolitic Art and Uncivil Actions, Steven Dubin (1994) [8]
Artist and activist Unruh Lee used eroplay outside of the context of Moore’s private and public performances. In 1994, Unruh Lee and others started the Gardeners Against the Work Ethic Association ("anti-work experiment in self-sufficiency, creating a new way of life based on play") and published Moore's “Eroplay In Life And Art” in their 'zine, GAWE.[note 5] Eroplay was an essential part of the GAWE Association, and later a traveling "Nomadic Festival" organized by Lee.[9][note 6]
Dr. Susan Block’s book, The Bonobo Way, includes a number of passages about eroplay. She has integrated the word into her own ideology and lexicon, using “eroplay” interchangeably with another word, “outercourse”.[10]
Christian Lunch, the soundman at the Stork Club in Oakland, California since 2000, described his experience of eroplay in an interview with Moore himself in December 2001:
The wonderful thing about eroplay, when you see it live … it’s generating an erotic energy, but it’s being channeled toward something really powerful, like I said before, that’s the thing that makes it unusual. And it would shock a club owner, but it turns the stage into, performing, into a ceremonial space …[11]
Steven Brown, author and co-founder of the Institute on Disability Culture, wrote about Moore and "eroplay" in 2003:
The nudity in Frank’s life and art easily offends people. Although subverting reality is a goal, he has also coined the word “eroplay” to explain the importance of nudity in his work. He describes eroplay as the activity of getting people to know one another’s bodies in a fun and non-sexual way.[12]
New York-based artist, Fred Hatt, attended this performance at New York City’s Franklin Furnace in 1989, and talks about his experience of the eroplay and of the performance itself in an article dedicated to Moore after his death:
“Journey to Lila” was an eight-hour series of experiences, by turns silly, sexy, disconcerting, frightening, ridiculous, liberating, playful, warm, and bonding. By the end of it most of the audience was undressed and playing with each other like naked children. While some moments of it could be challenging, I never felt that I or anyone was unsafe or coerced or being exploited or laughed at … I’ve seen a lot of great performances and experienced many immersive theatrical events, but nothing has had such an enduring transformative effect on me as Frank Moore’s “Journey to Lila”. It came along at a pivotal moment in my life, and it opened my mind … Ever since, I have understood that people deeply desire freedom, that they want to live in a world of love and joy, and that if you invite people to play with you in such a world, many of them will. It has nothing to do with the harsh things our society uses to drive and motivate people – fear, envy, guilt, competition …[13]
Notes[edit]
- ↑ The first recorded reading of this essay and the word “eroplay” is part of Moore’s “Nonfilms” Collection on vimeo.com. See: Moore, Frank. "Nonfilms - Beth Reading Eroart". Vimeo. Retrieved 24 December 2016.(00:10 – 11:10)
- ↑ “Eroplay in Life & Art a work in progress” by Frank Moore was first published in "Shades of Gray, a national journal of semiotics, integrating the arts, and presenting art as a concern of living peoples", Phil Inje Chang, publisher, editor, compiler. No.3, 1985. Includes lots of b&w photos.
- ↑ For examples from the small press, see Lucid Moon, Winter 2001 ("The poems I Came To Play and Their Cuddling Cacoon celebrate the concept of Eroplay, sensual touching that is childlike and erotic and fun for all.") or Michael Halchin's review of Art of a Shaman in Bleeding Velvet Octopus ("Frank's work centers on non-sexual touch called eroplay, an interesting concept in itself.")
- ↑ From an event listing in "Express Section Two" of the East Bay Express, 3/23/01, a weekly newspaper for the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area). The listing was for a Frank Moore performance titled Magical Feast of Musical Dreams.
- ↑ GAWE The Official Organ Of The Gardener's Against The Work Ethic Association is a black & white photocopied zine, without page numbers or issue number. The issue that included Moore's "Eroplay In Life And Art" and Lee's Notes On Eroplay came out in 1995.
- ↑ See Dubrul, Sascha Altman. Carnival Of Chaos: On the Road with the Nomadic Festival. Philadelphia: Bloodlink Press, 1996.
References[edit]
- ↑ http://www.eroplay.com/definitions_magical_play.pdf Moore, Frank. Definitions of States of Magical Play Frank Moore's Web of All Possibilities, 2012 12.1.16
- ↑ Montano, Linda. “Performance Artists Talking in the Eighties”. University of California Press, 2000. pg. 105-106 ISBN 978-0520210226 Search this book on
.
- ↑ Moore, Frank. (Director) May 19, 1987 NYC Interview |medium=video |url=https://vimeo.com/24904596 |time=starting at 03:35 |location=New York City, NY |publisher=Moore, Frank. Also see http://www.eroplay.com/Cave/Writings/nyc_interview/index.html for text of interview. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
- ↑ Body Beautiful By C. Carr, The Village Voice, May 26, 1987 - republished in Carr, C. "On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century". Wesleyan, 2008. pgs. 139-140 ISBN 978-0819568885 Search this book on .
- ↑ Carr, C. The Fiery Furnace, Performance in the ‘80s, War in the ‘90s, The Drama Review, Volume 49, Number 1 (T185), Spring 2005. Pgs.19-28 ISSN 1054-2043. Also: Carr, C. "The Fiery Furnace" (PDF). Franklin Furnace. Retrieved 14 February 2017.
- ↑ Vera, Veronica (October 1987). "Eroplay Is Fun. (Veronica Vera's New York)" (PDF). Adam Magazine (Volume 31 Issue # 10). Retrieved 10 December 2016.
- ↑ Blau, Herbert. The Surpassing Body, The Drama Review, Volume 35, No.2 (Summer 1991), The MIT Press, pg. 86 ISSN 0012 5962
- ↑ Dubin, Steven. "Arresting Images: Impolitic Art and Uncivil Actions". Routledge, 1994. pg.155 ISBN 978-0415908931 Search this book on .
- ↑ Lee, Unruh. "Free feasts, erotic play and the eruption of the marvelous; Looking back on the Gardeners Against the Work Ethic Association with Unruh Lee and M.K. Shibek". Fifth Estate # 379, Fall 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
- ↑ Block, Dr. Susan “The Bonobo Way: The Evolution of Peace Through Pleasure”. Gardner & Daughters Publishers, 2014. Pgs. 109,196 ISBN 978-0692323762 Search this book on .
- ↑ Moore, Frank. "Christian Lunch aka Xtian - Frank Moore's Shaman's Den". Vimeo. Retrieved 19 December 2016. (1:29:45 – 1:30:40)
- ↑ Brown, Steven “Movie Stars and Sensuous Scars: Essays on the Journey from Disability Shame to Disability Pride”. iUniverse, Inc., 2003. pg. 130 ISBN 978-0595288939 Search this book on .
- ↑ Hatt, Fred. "Creating a Masterpiece: Frank Moore". Fredhatt.com. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
This article "Eroplay" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Eroplay. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
