Concept
Fermentation as metaphor. Fermentation as sex; sex as fermentation.
The words fervor and ferment come from the same latin root: to boil.
A roil, agitation, a seizing of the senses in ecstatic union.
Through our sensing of the exterior, we come to know our interior, our psyche, as it continuously unfolds. Sensing is taking in what the world is giving, as such, a relationship. In other words, our relations make us. Our relations with each other, with the rain on our face, the smell of wet soil, fruit ripe on our tongue, wind blowing through the trees, soft light on a naked hip. Our relationship with the invisible but ever present microbiome, that, like the air, serves as a medium that sustains us and through which we experience the world.
What is the message of this unifying medium? When so intimate and co-evolved with, is there a line between us and world? Between natural and unnatural? Humans and non-humans?
Fermentation has always felt sexual to me. The bubbling excitement, intoxicating sensitivity, ephemeral lightning between fingertips and gut, pressure building to bursting, reciprocal amplification, giddiness, dissolving into plurality.
The term “making love” feels apt, for it does feel like making something: the sugars within us just waiting for the right conditions to spontaneously combust with someone into sweet liquor.
Swig the microbes in that bottle, mix them with the ecosystem of your gut, tell me where the micro becomes macro as your head rushes and I’ll show you the relationships that make the world.
Sex then, both human and microbial, as metaphor for intimate relationships that help us understand ourselves as relationships.
The words fervor and ferment come from the same latin root: to boil.
A roil, agitation, a seizing of the senses in ecstatic union.
Through our sensing of the exterior, we come to know our interior, our psyche, as it continuously unfolds. Sensing is taking in what the world is giving, as such, a relationship. In other words, our relations make us. Our relations with each other, with the rain on our face, the smell of wet soil, fruit ripe on our tongue, wind blowing through the trees, soft light on a naked hip. Our relationship with the invisible but ever present microbiome, that, like the air, serves as a medium that sustains us and through which we experience the world.
What is the message of this unifying medium? When so intimate and co-evolved with, is there a line between us and world? Between natural and unnatural? Humans and non-humans?
Fermentation has always felt sexual to me. The bubbling excitement, intoxicating sensitivity, ephemeral lightning between fingertips and gut, pressure building to bursting, reciprocal amplification, giddiness, dissolving into plurality.
The term “making love” feels apt, for it does feel like making something: the sugars within us just waiting for the right conditions to spontaneously combust with someone into sweet liquor.
Swig the microbes in that bottle, mix them with the ecosystem of your gut, tell me where the micro becomes macro as your head rushes and I’ll show you the relationships that make the world.
Sex then, both human and microbial, as metaphor for intimate relationships that help us understand ourselves as relationships.
Quotes of inspiration
“The differentiation of my senses, as well as their spontaneous convergence in the world at large, ensures that I am a being destined for relationship: it is primarily through my engagement with what is not me that I effect the integration of my senses, and thereby experience my own unity and coherence.” - David Abram, Spell of the Sensuous
“Because food is an extension of their own body, living things recognize their own food; this means they in fact recognize themselves.” - Kinji Imanishi, A Japanese View of Nature
“We don't obtain knowledge by standing outside the world; we know because we are of the world.” - Karen Barad, Agential Realism
“If I could kiss you now/Oh I’d kiss you now again and again/I don’t know where I begin/And where you end.” - Moby, Where You End on the album Hotel
“The skin on each of us, which we think of as the boundary between ourselves and the world beyond, is home to many more microbes than there are humans on Earth, and these microscopic beings, in symbiotic relationships with us as well as one another, spin elaborate biofilms, constantly exchange metabolic by-products as well as genes, and mediate much of our interaction with the world around us.” - Sandor Katz, Fermentation as Metaphor
“Because food is an extension of their own body, living things recognize their own food; this means they in fact recognize themselves.” - Kinji Imanishi, A Japanese View of Nature
“We don't obtain knowledge by standing outside the world; we know because we are of the world.” - Karen Barad, Agential Realism
“If I could kiss you now/Oh I’d kiss you now again and again/I don’t know where I begin/And where you end.” - Moby, Where You End on the album Hotel
“The skin on each of us, which we think of as the boundary between ourselves and the world beyond, is home to many more microbes than there are humans on Earth, and these microscopic beings, in symbiotic relationships with us as well as one another, spin elaborate biofilms, constantly exchange metabolic by-products as well as genes, and mediate much of our interaction with the world around us.” - Sandor Katz, Fermentation as Metaphor
What is the project?
Fervor is a collaborative, pornographic, video project involving humans and more-than-humans. Participant sourced, intimate audio recordings of sex, including buildup and denouement, overlaid on macro-video of fermentation projects bubbling away.
This is an open call! If any of what you’ve read up until now connects with you, please consider participating!
This is an open call! If any of what you’ve read up until now connects with you, please consider participating!
What does participation involve?
Through friends and open call, I am accepting audio recordings of adult, consensual sex to use in the project. These can be recorded on phones, or if available, higher quality recording devices. Only audio will be used for this project. Contact me for further instruction before sending any files.
Regarding anonymity: By default, I will do my best to preserve anonymity by removing or not using artifacts of identifiability that naturally arise in the recordings (names, locations, etc.). However, voices can be recognizable, so there is an inherent risk of identification with participation. In addition, there will be no anonymity between the participants and myself. If anonymity is of concern but you would still like to participate, I am happy to accommodate by using limited/altered forms of the recordings. Additionally, all participants will be able to re-consent to the use of the project in its final form.
Regarding consent: I will only be accepting recordings directly from those involved in the sex, and will require proof of consent to share the recordings from all participating parties.
Regarding anonymity: By default, I will do my best to preserve anonymity by removing or not using artifacts of identifiability that naturally arise in the recordings (names, locations, etc.). However, voices can be recognizable, so there is an inherent risk of identification with participation. In addition, there will be no anonymity between the participants and myself. If anonymity is of concern but you would still like to participate, I am happy to accommodate by using limited/altered forms of the recordings. Additionally, all participants will be able to re-consent to the use of the project in its final form.
Regarding consent: I will only be accepting recordings directly from those involved in the sex, and will require proof of consent to share the recordings from all participating parties.
Who can participate?
Anyone! Whatever sex means to you, whatever feels like getting lost in senses with someone, and by doing so, making sense with someone.
A focus will be given to those that feel their sex is queer. Why? Because this project exists within my larger exploration of the philosophies integral to queer ecology, in which artificial boundaries are troubled. Specifically the boundaries between humans/more-than-humans, individual/plural, biotic/abiotic.
Sex is inherently an act of intimate exploration, and those who practice that outside dominant narratives feel most relevant for this project that aims at troubling distinctions through unique comparison.
A focus will be given to those that feel their sex is queer. Why? Because this project exists within my larger exploration of the philosophies integral to queer ecology, in which artificial boundaries are troubled. Specifically the boundaries between humans/more-than-humans, individual/plural, biotic/abiotic.
Sex is inherently an act of intimate exploration, and those who practice that outside dominant narratives feel most relevant for this project that aims at troubling distinctions through unique comparison.
Contact
If you have any questions, are interested in participating, or know someone who is, please contact me:
Instagram: @matthew____king
Email: via my contact page here.
Instagram: @matthew____king
Email: via my contact page here.
| fervor_open_call_pdf.pdf |