On Friday July 18 and Saturday July 19, Charm City will play host to the Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival.  This festival will be a showcase for artists and performers who specialize in arts and performances of an erotic nature.  While the art work itself is on display all month at the Load of Fun gallery at 120 North Avenue, the festival will only be held on July 18 and 19.  SĒN Baltimore recently interviewed Suzannah Gerber from Load of Fun to find out more about the Erotic Arts Festival.

DS:   What do you want people to know about the festival before they attend?

SG:   The Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival will showcase a wide spectrum of sexual and erotic expression.  Some of the works may be disturbing and some uplifting and an effort to include the good and bad have been made.  It is an open environment where all desires will be permitted to be expressed (within legal bounds) and no boundaries or distinctions between art/porn, porn/sex, sex/art, male/female, top/bottom, normal and non will be made for you.

DS:  What is the overall goal behind an event like this?  What message is trying to be       made with the event?

SG:  The goal is to show to the fullest ability the scope of human sexual expression, without continuing to draw and redraw the traditional limits and boundaries set about by decency standards, art standards or social taboos.  Unlike in previous years where there seem to be rolling boundaries separating porn and art, or sex and art, or personal and public this event makes no attempt to redefine good and bad, decent and indecent but rather wishes to bridge and eliminate those boundaries.  Another goal was to bring an event of this kind to an otherwise conservative city, showcasing local artists in alternative lifestyles and normative ones as well as international and nationally renowned artists.

DS:  What can we expect from performers such as Annie Sprinkle?

SG:  Annie Sprinkle and her colleagues make events like this possible. Their groundbreaking work has helped to increase the awareness for women artists and sexuality in many aspects of art from the arts and beyond.  Annie Sprinkle is doing a performance on both nights, one of which will be a featured stage performance "My Life in Porn" and later an interventionist-style performance art piece called "Free Sidewalk Sex Clinic."  Another notable performer is Lee Harrington, performing Drag on Friday night and MC'ing Saturday night.  Sacred Mark Sanctuary is doing a hook/piercing suspension, and Atmoic Cheesecake is having a rather fun Pin up Pageant [I am attaching a schedule of performances for you]

DS:  There are film screenings on both days of the festival.  What can you tell us about what we can expect from these screenings or what sort of experience this film screening will be?

SG:  Pornographic, intense, explicit.  There is a main screen on the 2nd floor and 2 viewing stations.  Featuring works by international artists, and a lovely piece by Jean Genet, courtesy of Cult Epics.  Also an extremely controversial film by Julie Simone which won an AVM award and was showcased at 2 other Erotic Arts Festivals.  Also the East Coast Debut of a Film called Liberty in Restrain.

All the works are heady, psychological and intense and are made by vibrant members of the Adult and Erotica international community.

DS:  What are some of the common misconceptions about this festival?

SG:   I don’t believe in misconceptions.  All points of view are welcome.  I will encourage nudity, I will encourage PDA, I will encourage play, and seeking answers and making new connections.  I will seek to offend, I will seek to heal, I will seek to comfort and I want everyone to know that all of those things are likely to be around them, and the level to which they desire to participate is entirely up to them.

DS:  What is the Human Buffet?

SG:  Human Buffet is where a live person is covered with food and you eat it off of their body.  Here is a link to some of my older work on the subject.

            So come check out the fun and sights at the Baltimore Erotic Arts Festival on Friday July 18 and Saturday July 19; $15 for a day pass or $25 for both days.  There is lots of interesting exhibits and workshops to visit so leave plenty of time to see them all.