What do sexuality and horror have in common? (Part III)

Part One

Part Two

Returning to the concept of horror discussed in previous posts, we cannot ignore the research that shows a link between disturbing situations (i.e. scary films) and increased sexual arousal. On the other hand, we can also find manifestations of spiritual experience and pain, which in a sense transforms into pleasure, in the performances of Marina Abramović, one of the most famous and currently influential artists in pop culture, in which pain and pleasure seem to merge into one and become a spiritual experience. Some of the artist's performances have been reworked by the New York BDSM and Queer artist community, for the closing weekend of The Artist is Present exhibition at 25CPW in New York, the show is called The Artist is Absent. Although Abramović's work is often associated with the viewpoint of these communities, unfortunately this position is rarely expressed in public. It is true that this event can be perceived as relevant and resonant in the BDSM, Queer communities with what Abramović is doing (124). Ultimately, both religious or BDSM communities and the latter artist explore their own identity through related experiences and practices, which, as we can see, are not too far removed from historical religious motifs. Given the sexual revolution, the hauntological background and stereotypes of the contemporary world, it becomes quite obvious that sexual practices are much more than just sexual activities and attitudes that are or are not acceptable for certain groups of people.

Finally, returning to the juxtaposition of pain and pleasure, it is worth mentioning the motif of the whip, which appears both in religious writings as a liberating practice and in BDSM communities. As Jo Pearson, scholar and author of Embracing the Lash, testifies, the marks left on the body by the lash are both signs of an encounter with the infinite and of a transformative experience of the self, important in the process of identity transformation. The Sun Dance, an Indian ritual in which young men are hung from hooks that pierce the body, is quite close to this experience. This sacrifice of pain and flesh is intended for self-growth, well-being, purification of the community and the betterment of the world. It is interesting to note that body modification by hook suspension has a strong overlap with the BDSM community, and in recent decades has become very popular among young people in modern Western cultures. In the Lithuanian context, a similar practice called Body Suspension can be seen at the Devilstone Festival, which is open to the public. In terms of the popularity of this phenomenon in society, it should be noted that many young people still feel the need to prove their worth and courage to themselves and their communities by enduring pain. This is one of the ways in which young people in secular societies seem to compensate for the lack of rites of passage into adulthood.

So as Jack Rinella writes in Philosophy in the Dungeon: The Magic of Sex & Spirit, changing states of consciousness is the ultimate goal of both mystical experiences and BDSM. The very acts that cause pain in BDSM scenes facilitate changes in states of consciousness, and bondage, spanking, and other similar practices have the power to alter our brainwave patterns. Therapists, shamans, priests and mystics have used altered states for years to help people overcome feelings such as fear, anxiety, shyness or social conditioning. Altered states also allow participants to reprogram their identity, habits and past traumas (125).

Mystical literature in both Western and Asian countries is replete with ecstatic statements in which supreme bliss is mysteriously intertwined with concepts that evoke both emotional and physical pain. No mystic has demonstrated this more clearly or more loudly than the 16th century Spanish nun St Teresa of Avila, known as the patron saint of headaches. Her supreme testimony of her mystical experience is often quoted: "The pain was so acute that it made me groan; and I was overwhelmed by the unbearable sweetness of this intense pain. I wish I had never lost it."

In the twentieth century, he created a figure that was also famous for its ecstatic and painful mystique. Padre Pio, only recently beatified and known for his painful stigmata wounds, was prone to vivid and well-documented ecstasies. Margaret, Heinrich Suso, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. John of God, St. John of God. Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi and many others) have shown exceptional creativity in the creation of mystical literature, in which ecstatic terms, often saturated with words of pain, describe both the spiritual path and the final goal.

Therapist Dr Patti Britton stresses that the search for the relationship between pain and pleasure is not unique to BDSM or religious communities, and invites us to think of athletes who go beyond physical comfort to experience the 'high of running', or people who seek excitement through dangerous extreme sports such as skydiving. Mr Britton also mentions lovers of spicy food and the fears and pleasure that can come from riding roller coasters or watching horror films. The latter even inspires artists to create as a kind of ritual practice (126).

Thus, to summarise the theme of sexuality, sexual fantasies, family, gender stereotypes or even loneliness and self-perception are intertwined with the ghosts of the past and the motivational hedonism of the present. Each sub-plot seems to open up a new void, where the inevitable confrontation between different points of view invites us to rethink human nature and the boundaries between consciousness and what comes from the subconscious, from collective forgetfulness to cultural learning.

124 The Artist is Absent. Daylight. [Žiūrėta 2021 m. gruodžio 5 d.]. Prieiga per internetą: https://daylightbooks.org/blogs/news/17203621-the-artist-is-absent.

125 RINELLA, Jack. Philosophy in the Dungeon: The Magic of Sex and Spirit. Rinella Editorial Services. 2011. p. 248. ISBN 9780940267107

126 Galvoje turima P. Milliou