FACES ON 25 JANUARY AND ALL IN THE NAME OF ART

WORDS DARCY RIVE

LEFT IMAGERY OF PETTET FEATURED ON HIS TUMBLR BLOG

surrounding male virginity. In particular, homosexual virginity.

Homosexual sex has always been something of a controversial matter. In the 1500s, that great withholder of the sanctity of marriage, Henry VIII, made anal sex between two men punishable by death. And it wasn’t until hundreds of years later, in 1967, that same-sex sex became partially decriminalised, provided both parties were above the age of 21. And even then, we had to wait until 2001 for the homosexual age of consent to be legally lowered to the same as heterosexuals. It seems that homosexual virginity has always been a difficult issue for society to take, as it were.

But in most situations, when something is a taboo, its appeal is intensified. Homosexual virginity and its vexed past have led to it being fetishised. A quick Google

search of “gay virgin porn”, for example – and yes, it was for research purposes – delivered more than 173 million results in a swift 0.32 seconds. With video titles like Anal Virgin Can’t Take The Pain and Yummy Gay Is Excited To Screw A Virgin, this fascination with virginity presents it as a virtue destined to be corrupted. It is in pornography that virginity is truly stolen, not willingly given as part of an art school project…

In the UK, the average age of first intercourse is 16. And it’s assumed that most people have sex around this time. But at 19, Pettet has explained that people are somewhat shocked by his “advanced virginity”.

“People form a negative

connotation of what it means to be a virgin at my age,” he says.

“‘Oh, you’re 19? Why haven’t you lost your virginity?’ That’s what fascinates me about it. The value of the word ‘virginity’ and how it can

dictate what people think of you.” Pettet’s sexploits also highlight a more abstract issue that affects gay men, raising the question that there could be two, or perhaps even three, virginities that he could lose. Sex with a woman before identifying as gay? Virginity number one. Sex as a top? That’s virginity number two. And sex as a bottom? Ding, ding, ding! That makes three.

“Although virginity itself is an abstract idea, the moment the hymen is broken is completely physical, and thus, the exact moment of deflowering can be pin-pointed,” says Pettet. So, is a man who’s never broken a hymen still a virgin? What about the gay man who’s only ever topped or bottomed his way through intercourse? If he has penetrated but never been penetrated, or vice versa, is he still a virgin?

Suddenly Regina George’s “I was half a virgin when I met him” quip doesn’t seem so ridiculous, does it?

Perhaps this is the wonderful and liberating thing about homosexual virginity that Pettet’s artistic performance brings into the gay consciousness. We are free to create our own individual definitions on a very personal matter. Whether you consider virginity a virtue or a vice, a treasure or a burden, it’s up to you to place a value on it in your life.

Clayton Pettet is hoping to “destruct the value of virginity” with his performance, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to resonate with everyone. Virginity is an abstract and personal concept and, as men who have sex with other men, we’re free to dictate our own definition of it.

And, like a virgin touched for the very first time, this freedom to decide for ourselves is empowering and more than just a little bit exciting. Q

artschoolstolemyvirginity.tumblr.com

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Is it art? And just who gets to decide? These days we seem increasingly concerned with what can be classed as art and, by extension, who can call themselves artists. But art should be defined by its creator and interpreted by its viewer, so the question is neither here nor there. As consumers of life we have our personal reactions of what we perceive and experience as art. Art statements have made an important contribution to modern consciousness, and pioneers like Robert Mapplethorpe were pushing the levels of queer taste many years before young Clayton was even born. Once seen as a producer of “just” pornography, Mapplethorpe’s work is now celebrated and respected worldwide. More recently we’ve seen art and activism merge with feminist activists Pussy Riot and Pyotr Pavlensky, who nailed his scrotum in Red Square in protest of Russia’s anti-gay laws. Both grabbed the world’s attention and highlighted Russia’s increasingly right wing society. Art School Stole My Virginity is getting headlines too – from the Daily Mail to the New York Daily News – and naysayers accuse it of being a crass, attention-grabbing piece of toss. But how can something be dismissed before it’s even happened? Pettet wants to push the boundaries of what male virginity means and whether the importance of virginity is relevant in our supposedly liberated society. What is gay male virginity and how does it get taken from us? I was 18 and fumbling and it was dark. I may have had a few drinks. My hormones were all over the place. Was it actually happening? Pettet poses similar questions, “Is deflowering really a loss? Or is it an awakening, a beginning, a milestone that should be celebrated rather than feared?” In an age of free and easy access to hardcore pornography, these are ideas we should be thinking about in relation to our own personal values of sex and sexuality. To put a little more thought back into sex. I believe Pettet will look back on the day he lost his virginity with a greater sense of meaning than I ever had. Good for him. Q

Art will always be controversial. It’s been used to convey political actions, thoughts, expressions as well as providing a medium through which to communicate sexual desires, expressions, fetishes, lust and exhibitionism. It’s not always a messy bed or a few lines across a canvas. In a static image many things can be conveyed, but art challenges us more when it stops being a vision or a picture. It’s less of an illusion once something is live.

Sex, and sexual expression is something that has widely been debated, but there’s still a stigma attached to it. Usually, if an audience is invited to see it, it automatically becomes equated to porn. Pettet says he wants to challenge the notion that virginity, as a concept, is heteronormative in terms of values and assumption and it’s an interesting point. In terms of queer representation, though, can we really say this is a good move? For many years, gay and bi men have been depicted as sex-crazed predators, who live depraved lifestyles and have exhibitionistic, seedy natures. Sure, we like sex. I like experiencing all it has to offer, and what testosterone-driven person doesn’t? But at the same time it can be a problem when that stereotype is continually reinforced and when gay people are associated with entertainment and performance, or a louche and tacky subculture.

Pettet, of course, has far loftier aspirations and there’s certainly something poetic about his plans for popping his cherry. But I’m not sold that making virginity a commodity in this fashion is really making a huge statement. We all have differing virginities throughout our lives and certain sexual activities we discover are a ‘virginity’ to lose. This can happen at any time, and not necessarily in the full glare of a room of spectators. Unless that’s what turns the artist on? I don’t question anyone’s right to sexual expression but I feel, in this instance, there is more than an element of exhibitionism being packaged as art here. And not such a strong stance against heteronormativity. Q