How Many Virgins? presented their Second Summer sacrifice, an intimate evening of visual, aural, and sensual stimulation, at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Featuring A Post-Mentalpausal Mid-Career Survey by Amy Von Harrington & Mel Shimkovitz: short films spanning ten years of new age-old epiphanies and co-defendant disfunction. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
For the first of Friday Autre playlists, I thought it most appropriate to highlight the quintessential Los Angeles-based punk rock bands of the late 1970s (and some '80s). Perhaps this is a cliché move, but Autre is of course a Los Angeles art magazine. The Hollywood punk bands were decidedly art leaning without exactly aspiring towards art. That is the Los Angeles art attitude; a sort of nonchalance that allows for the word to spin out of control and occasionally achieve the transcendental. Click here to read more and listen to the full playlist.
Most of what you'll see from big music festivals, like FYF Fest, are the bands and the badly dressed. Fortunately, young, up-and-coming photographer Genevieve Nollinger was on hand to capture FYF Fest from her own perspective, her friends, and the fans in raw youthful abandon. photographs by Genevieve Nollinger
Kristin Prim is a freak of nature and she is so wise at her young age that it will astound you. When she started Prim magazine at only 14 years old, she became the youngest print magazine editor in the world. Indeed, Kristin Prim is not your average girl – now woman – but she’s always been powerful and individualistic, which is one of the things that makes her so fascinating. Her first loves were music and art, but when her parents moved to a more conservative town in New York, she turned towards fashion, and publishing, as an outlet to connect with people that were more like her. While many kids were plastering their walls with cut outs from Teen Vogue, Prim was publishing her own glossy mag and distributing it globally. Click here to read the full interview.
I just masturbated to the thought of sitting on someone’s face. I figured whatever came to mind I’d write about. And really, what better way to begin writing about facesitting than right after getting off to the thought. What is it about the act? Just a few minutes ago before writing these words, I was lying in bed rubbing myself to the thought of my ass coming down gently on a particular face, me “triumphantly” above him, as he often remarks. The pressure and weight of my ass resting on his face, suffocating him temporarily and squeezing my thighs against his neck and head. I like the way he gasps for air as I release his face from the grip of my derriere. The image alone sets off a fantastic wank — a vision of ivory softness, large and overwhelming, looming above his face, which is soon to be smothered into erogenous bliss. Click here to read more.
I just masturbated to the thought of sitting on someone’s face. I figured whatever came to mind I’d write about. And really, what better way to begin writing about facesitting than right after getting off to the thought?
What is it about the act? Just a few minutes ago before writing these words, I was lying in bed rubbing myself to the thought of my ass coming down gently on a particular face, me “triumphantly” above him, as he often remarks. The pressure and weight of my ass resting on his face, suffocating him temporarily and squeezing my thighs against his neck and head. I like the way he gasps for air as I release his face from the grip of my derriere. The image alone sets off a fantastic wank — a vision of ivory softness, large and overwhelming, looming above his face, which is soon to be smothered into erogenous bliss. I sometimes imagine the image of my own ass, slightly spread, as I get off; this beautiful thing to marvel at! Thankfully, I was blessed with a full-rounded backside that is coveted as one of the best to worship and — more notably — to be underneath, as a professional dominatrix. My ass is that of godliness for some. Men delightfully suffer under the weight of me, and I revel in their incapacitation. The joy of facesitting.
I’m trying to remember my first facesitting fantasy, or my first facesitting experience. I’ve rode many faces of lovers, but facesitting is especially different. The end goal is not typically orgasm or involving cunni- or anal-lingus (at least not every time), but is more so a way to exercise control over another’s breathing: letting them inhale your wonderful scent in a most intimate way using the brute force of the sit.
I think I inadvertently sat on a face my first time. These things happen, accidental power exchanges turned lifelong kinky affairs. It was a drunken encounter around the age of nineteen, a more intuitive and sexual BDSM encounter than a safe/sane/consensual and skillful roll in the proverbial hay. We spent most of the time mopping our bodies around my faux-hardwood floors at 3 a.m. when I ended up hovering over his face and felt him breathing me in deeply, enjoying my evident arousal. And so I sat. To my pleasant surprise, he was enjoying being smothered. Imagine my burgeoning dominant excitement! I continued — up, down… up, down… up, down.
Facesitting is a fantastic way of exercising control and providing erotic closeness. It can be a fetishistic activity and one that relegates the top in the position of highness — The Decider of When You Breathe. All of the focus on depersonalization by way of covering the face, being underneath and thus eliminating their presence — now you see me, now you don’t. I can read or listen to music or talk to my damn self — my seat is a seat and nothing more. Outside of a Dominant/submissive (D/s) context, one can also use facesitting as a gateway to forced cunt eating, ass eating, or ball play. The “seat,” as “it” were, can be activated by servicing the sitter and providing intimate sexual contact.
Facesitting isn’t conceptually profound, but it makes for directness in the bedroom or dungeon or wherever your fuck du jour. The psychological implications can certainly be profound, but facesitting itself is not complicated, nor does it require any real prep. Just find an eager consenting little face and sit. You can even invest in a smotherbox or queening chair if facesitting becomes a predominant activity for you and your partner. Just saying the word 'smotherbox' should be enough for a curious party to give it a go with or without accoutrements.
And just as many longstanding lascivious acts are crucified as being despicable teen sex trends by Fox News and OneMillionMoms, facesitting has had a long history. Simply put, it's likely your Grandmother sat on a face at some point and time. This year, UK law banned facesitting in porn alongside other popular fetishes, including female ejaculation. Mistress Absolute, a beloved BDSM practitioner based in London, was among the crowd protesting the outdated law in front of parliament. She facesat in solidarity and drank her morning coffee while doing so. Also notable: there was a man wearing a snorkel rolling out his yoga mat preparing for his personal day of activism alongside Absolute and the other activists. This protest comes off the heels of numerous recent shoutouts being made to femdom, by way of facesitting, via many pop stars including Nicki Minaj and The Weeknd, all of whom have expressed their penchant for the act and the joy it brings. I love facesitting and I’m glad it’s being normalized, popularized, and celebrated, debated even. Any press is good press, no?
Let’s not forget the pre-Minaj facesitting enthusiasts: Namio Harukawa, working between the late 1960s and 80s, or thickly depicted R. Crumb-ian women, meticulously rendered/expertly shaded, practically taking up the full frame of his images and sitting cruelly and confidently on small, weak men in varied humiliating fashion. The tiny men tend to the women’s feet or act as a much needed bar stool, among other utilitarian purposes. Much of Harukawa’s work is centered on facesitting, but also includes bondage and human furniture. For more contemporary face to ass depictions, John Stagliano’s Buttman magazine does the trick. Although mostly focusing on hardcore, Buttman has some magical moments of smothering within the pages of back issues. I’m a huge Buttman fan and particularly fond of Belladonna, Asa Akira, Alexis Texas, among other anal queens who appeared in the glossy pages. Buttman operated as a catalog of buttstuff, all disciplines included, something for any butt enthusiast. Self-proclaimed buttman Glenn King (once loosely related to the boys of Buttman) is frequently seen with his face firmly planted between the cheeks of big name porn stars such as Aiden Starr and Daisy Ducati on MeanBitches.com and TheKingNetwork.com. He even holds a weekly “TwAss” contest on Twitter where various porn newbies and vets submit photos of their ass for Glenn’s loving judgment.
I rejoice when I see a billboard with a giant ass crushing a city, or when a film gratuitously zooms in on a lovely lady’s ass (i.e. Lucy Liu in Joseph McGinty Nichol’s Charlie’s Angels featured in full leather walking down the hallway, leather creaking as she struts). Fuck the curmudgeons, viva la arse! Don’t leave me hanging — kiss it, follow it, and for god’s sake get underneath it.
Audra Wist is an artist, writer, social commentator and provocateur. She is also an avid collector of erotica and erotic ephemera. She is also a professional dominatrix based in Los Angeles specializing in all sorts of punishment and humiliation. As Autre's sex editor at-large she will be covering all sorts of naughty content in the realm of sex and sexuality – from masturbatorial musings to photographic editorials. Follow her on instagram: @femaleguest
The new video from HÆLOS - Earth Not Above Buy EP Below: Matador Records: http://store.matadorrecords.com/new-releases/earth-not-above Piccadilly Records (UK): http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/prod/Haelos-EarthNotAbove-Matador-104248.html Rough Trade: http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/95471 Jumbo: http://www.jumborecords.co.uk/music-item.asp?product_id=OLE10891 HÆLOS Online: soundcloud.com/hælos facebook.com/hælosmusic https://twitter.com/haelos https://instagram.com/haelos http://aplaceforhaelos.tumblr.com/
Leading into the release of Haelos' “Earth Not Above” 12” on Matador, the London trio -- Arthur Delaney (vocals), Dom Goldsmith (vocals, production) and Lotti Benardout (vocals) -- present their first video, directed by Jesse Jenkins. As part one of a video trilogy, the “Earth Not Above” video carries the mood of the EP, treading the fine line between darkness and euphoria.
DIRECTOR Ninian Doff PRODUCTION COMPANY Pulse Films PRODUCER Rik Green PRODUCTION MANAGER Max Horn EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Zak Razvi DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Ross Mclennan SERVICE COMPANY Twentyfour Seven SERVICE PRODUCER Ignasi Vargas ART DIRECTOR Laia Ateca HAIR & MAKE-UP Pedro Rodriguez STYLIST Cris Quer PROSTHETICS Kristyan Mallett EDITOR Ross Hallard EDITING COMPANY Trim Editing OFFLINE Jemma Daniel OFFLINE Harriet Cawley COLOURIST Richard Fearon GRADING COMPANY MPC POST PRODUCER Amy Smith VFX Hugo Saunders SOUND DESIGN Aaron Reynolds SOUND Wave CASTING DIRECTOR Aisha Walters CAST Hannah John Kamen Joe Bell COMMISSIONER Ailsa Robertson DIRECTOR'S REPRESENTATION Joceline Gabriel SOUND PRODUCER Maggie McDermott
Sometimes I Feel So Deserted is the second single from The Chemical Brothers' current album 'Born In The Echoes'. The music video, directed by Ninian Doff, has a distinct Spaghetti Western feel that cinematically lines up perfectly with the "discombobulating Escher-esque rhythm track." At some points during the video it's hard not to wince, but its even harder to look away.
Ever wonder what life was like through the hole of a pierced septum? Directed by Alexa Karolinski, Eckhaus Latta's fall/winter 15 collection film is a pastiche of diary-esque snapshots of the human condition in an era where binge watching television is a reality and reality itself is a virtual mirage set against the backdrop of green screens in a darkened room. Eckhaus Latta has a distinct history for pushing the boundaries when it comes to projecting their sartorially visions - each one of their fashion films finds a way to capture the essence of the collection in a distinct thematic way. For "Roach," the label has tasked Dev Hynes to create the soundtrack and Nora Slade to read a poem penned by the designers for a romantic ambiance that has us yearning for shelter as the impending winter gets closer and closer.
Last week Holy Patte took us on a tour of their journey through Colombia - and the week before that Costa Rica. This time around, though, they give us a glimpse of their incredible 26 day long journey through the cities and treacherous volcanic mountains of Ecuador. From the capital city of Quito, they made their way to the indigenous town of Otavalo and then to the mountainous peaks of Laguna de Mojanda. Their last adventure in Ecuador takes them to the Cotopaxi volcano, which is still very active and is becoming more and more agitated everyday. Stay tuned until next week when we feature Holy Patte's tour through Peru. Be sure to follow @autrevoyage on Instagram to stay up to date.
Doug Aitken at his Station to Station book signing at Cinefile Video in Los Angeles. The Station to Station movie is premiering in Los Angeles and is on view until the end of this week at Nuart Theater. photograph by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
This illuminating new book tells the story of Doug Aitken's Station to Station project, a nomadic happening that crossed North America by train and continues to explore creativity in the modern landscape. Doug Aitken's Station to Station project is a high speed road trip through modern creativity. Over a 23-day period, the project crossed North America by train presenting a series of cultural interventions and site-specific happenings that took place in ten cities between New York and San Francisco. The train, designed as a moving, kinetic light sculpture, was at the center of it all, housing the constantly changing group of creative individuals and broadcasting experiences to a global audience. Over one hundred unique projects took place during the journey, created by today's leading contributors in contemporary art, music, literature, and culture. This volume presents the ideas that emerged from Station to Station. Stunning full-color illustrations and multiple conversations with Aitken onboard the train document the journey from East to West. Click here to purchase the book.
"The Little House" is an installation experience by Moral Turgeman with sound by Joe McKee that is on view now at MAMA gallery. This is the first time the true to size mirrored house is shown to the public after a nine-month construction period - with tunnels that lead to a cavernous and cozy interior where you will be able to put on headphones and delve into a binaural sound therapy bath. The Little House can be experienced for a limited time at MAMA Gallery, 242 Palmetto St, Los Angeles, CA. photographs by Sara Clarken
Balkan Pank is an original view of ex-Yugoslavia counterculture during the 1979-89 decade, an underrepresented period of punk attitude without the uniform in a non-aligned Communist country, a group of people escaping a dictatorship through their own set of rules. Jože Suhadolnik started this project when he was 13 year old. He was an insider of the 80s punk and squat movement and also an extremely promising young photojournalist, drawn to counterculture, alternative ways of living and genuine rebellion, his curiosity lead us to the hidden corners of in underground labyrinthic squats and illegal gigs where he started documenting the vibrant energy of the nights when bands with names like The Bastards and VideoSex used to play. “We used to travel from what was then Yugoslavia twice a year to Trieste on the Italian border to buy jeans, Brooklyn chewing gum and 20 rolls of Tri-X (they were worth an absolute fortune and lasted at least a few months), and a Yugoslav custom officer stopped you at the border and humiliated you for the next hour. I’ve been to about 1,600 concerts on my count; at my first, Siouxsie and the Banshees in 1981, I was able to walk near Siouxsie on the stage! Can you imagine that today? On the other hand, people were arrested just for wearing a Sex Pistols badge” Click here to purchase the extremely limited first edition of Balkan Pank by Joze Suhadolnik.
Jessie Askinazi is one of those rare connectors that seems to know or work with everybody - and not just in the art world. Art, fashion, politics, social justice – she’s there. Visit her Tumblr diary and you’ll see excerpts from fashion spreads she has featured on Autre, portraits of comedians, actors and musicians, and nightlife snapshots in black and white. Her photography is real, raw and it tells stories – it’s the opposite of vapid, which seems to sum up perfectly who Askinazi is as a person. She is also the founder, organizer and curator of the #YESALLWOMEN fundraiser, which is a hosting a silent auction and exhibition featuring some of the most exciting women championing women’s rights, like Kim Gordon, Barbara Kruger, Rose McGowan, Mira Dancy and many more. Click here to read our interview with Askinazi, who opens up about her bouts with depression and discusses the importance of standing up for people that need it.
Galia Linn’s sculptures are translators and communicators of nature’s mysterious and often untranslatable language. As a site-specific installation, they stand as symbolic guardians in the face of nature’s intrinsic fragility, especially in the face of human disregard. Each sculpture is a totem, inspired by relics of the Neolithic era, that communicate deeply complex philosophies about our relationship with nature on a primal and subconscious level. Based in Los Angeles, Galia Linn grew up in Israel, on the very axis of ancient and modern civilizations. Water, oxygen, fire and earthen clay are manipulated in random orders and machinations to develop her works, which seem almost like timeless artifacts. Autre was lucky enough to pay a visit to Linn's studio to experience her works. Like an excavation site, Galia Linn's work can be touched, peered inside and meditated with – with the intention that the viewer will walk away with a transformative understanding that we are not separate from nature, but a part of nature. photographs by Oliver Maxwell Kupper
Last week, Autre presented Holy Patte’s incredible 22-day journey through Costa Rica. This week, Amaury and Chloé of Holy Patte take us to the cities, tropical beaches and surreal desert landscapes of Colombia. After debating on a method to cross the Darién Gap, which is a dense jungle that separates Panama and Colombia and is still nearly impossible to cross, they decide on the luxury of a quick plane flight. In an hour, they were in Medellin – a city once deemed the most dangerous in the world thanks to the drug lord Pablo Escobar, but is now considered one of the safest. In the tradition of Holy Patte’s mission to search for people working with their hands, they made their way to Raquira, a town known for its ceramics, where they met Maria, who has been working on her clay handicrafts all her life. After that, three days were spent among the colonial architecture of Cartagena. Then it was off to Coralina Island – the Colombian Caribbean – where they floated along crystal turquoise waters discovering the painter Fernando Botero’s seaside home. Soon after leaving the island, these lucky adventurers made their way to Bogotá and then ten hours to the mountain village of Villa de Leyva – and from their they hopped to Tota Lake and the remote village of Aquitania. Lastly, it was off to the beautifully surreal landscape of the Tatacoa Desert where they found shelter in the strange thatched huts of the Penon de Constantino hotel and hiked through the sunbaked, cactus lined hills. Next week, Autre Voyage will present Amaury and Chloé's journey through Peru, so stay tuned by following Autre on Instagram.
A few weeks ago, a mysterious series of short vignettes began arriving on Snapchat under the handle mudditchgirl91. Soon, the vignettes were edited together for a short film called Snapchat: Mudditchgirl91. In the film, mudditchgirl91 pines for a mudditchboy with a string of strange and shocking anecdotes, like wondering if mass murderer Elliot Rodger’s cum tastes like avocado oil. People freaked out. Who was mudditchgirl91? In another week, Marilyn Manson had tweeted a link to the video and the mudditchgirl91 phenomenon went viral. A day or two after that, one more film was released – it was mudditchgirl91’s suicide note. Just like that, she was dead. The real story, though, is that mudditchgirl91 was a character in an elaborate plot filmed in real time on the popular social media video sharing site, Snapchat, and directed by Vancouver based artist, novelist, and boy genius Alex Kazemi. Read our interview with the social provocateur on the true story of mudditchgirl91 - and see an exclusive behind the scenes video of Kazemi directing the actress, Bella McFadden.
The turtleneck has had a bizarre reputation. Like a pop star with a long career, it had a murky past (worn by sailors and thieves looks for a warm outfit for prowling in the night), caused a sensation when it first hit the scene, began slowly fading into the background, then started acting strangely in front of the press (think of the beatnik and his beret or Steve Jobs’ monograph wardrobe of Issey Miyake-designed turtlenecks), but now the turtleneck is making a comeback in a big way. This is why designer Giuliana Raggiani is right on the money. Her label Giu Giu’s fall collection is highlighted with classic wide-ribbed turtlenecks that can be layered or worn a la carte, depending on how brisk the weather. Raggiani’s love of turtlenecks dates back to the fashion staple’s glory days – her grandmother, Palmira Giglia, was responsible for the “Nonna Turtleneck,” which sold at her luxury womenswear boutique on Boston’s Newbury Street. We got a chance to catch up with Giuliana Raggiani to discuss her new collection, its inspirations, and her love for turtlenecks. Read the full interview here.
"The art world is now a global business, of course, as is just about everything else. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Skype have become our new living room, our church, our megaphone—and, some would argue, our toilet, too. And, it seems everyone wants to sit on the throne and be heard. Life is now "all news, all the time" and humor is the unifying force that allows us to look in the mirror, if for no other reason than to get a quick reality check and, hopefully, a little truth. HA HA! BUSINESS! continues my quixotic interest in making sense of it all. Yes, this is definitely a funny business! Ha ha." Text by Luis De Jesus on his group show on view now featuring the likes of Valerie Blass, Lex Brown, Josh Remes, and more. HA HA! BUSINESS! will be be on view until August 15, 2015 at Luis De Jesus gallery in Los Angeles. Photographs by Sara Clarken
