disciplinary flows, or what i learned from panda porn.

brianne and i happened upon a fascinating section of the museum of sex’s animal sex exhibit: ‘panda porn.’ because male pandas in captivity are unexposed to sexual activity and the fertility period of a panda lasts a mere three days, captors stage disciplinary interventions.

if we consider the body not as preformed material but, a la judith butler, a performed effect, then it becomes clear that the aim of this coercive viewing is not to simply act upon an already-formed panda-subject, but rather, attempts to constitute the panda as a sexual subject. eerily reminiscent of but implementing the obverse of disciplinary viewings within stanley kubrick’s rendition of ‘a clockwork orange,’ the coerced viewing of panda porn aims at forming the body of the male panda, the panda-as-sex.

the gaze enacted by what is viewed, then, summons forth a particular subject from a series of mobile performative forces. if the mode of address effects this act of interpellation, then perhaps we cannot only say that the screen is viewed by the panda; rather, the screen views the panda, views it into existence.

it becomes crucial, then, to consider the homologies between the captivity and formation of panda-subjects and the disciplinary structures of carceral arrangements producing prisoner-subjects.

we may also reflect upon the locus of carcerality itself: in what sense is society at large a prison? where and when are carceral qualities and their disciplinary effects ejaculated over the whole of the social?

on experiencing moma.

the museum of modern art (moma) may feel like a space of consumption. vast numbers of tourists breeze through the exhibits without extended looks on displays. purchases of memorabilia and miscellaneous trinkets may be made at several different locations throughout the museum. a cafe is located on the second floor. even the queues for bag checks wind through and out of a corridor. this disneyland experience subtracts the spectacular and sensational thrill of amusement park rides; a father answers to his impatient seven year-old son, ‘we’ve only been here for half an hour!’

nonetheless, moma also invites critical reflection across. divided amongst the museum’s six floors, iconic masterpieces and contemporary works offer a variety of styles, temporalities, and genres. accordingly, an/aestheticizing experiences inhere not in the artworks themselves; rather, they function as so many resonances between art and its viewer, thereby shattering any definitive delineation between those terms. here are several works that worked for me due to their carceral thematics.

Whilst navigating curatorial space may direct our attention inward to exhibited pieces, it simultaneously distracts us from one of the greatest exhibits of all: the city itself. this tendency to confine the proper place of aesthetics to the museum may disable a scrutiny of cityscapes themselves and how they re/structure perceptions, sensations, and experience itself.

But not everyone misses out.