Photographer Clayton Cubitt  has a new approach to female sexuality through sensual literature in his video project titled “Hysterical literature”. Women filmed in a black and white setting are sitting at a table, dressed as for a date and reading their favorite passage from a book. They start giggling, laughing and loose control over their bodies as they have an orgasm. The beauty about these videos is that they leave a lot to the imagination. One might think that it’s the slightly erotic read that leads them on this path or there’s a person or a sex toy under the table, but you can’t actually see what’s going on. In fact, all of these are happening as they are trying to go on with the read. Finally, their closing line arrives seriously: they state their name and their read.

The series already has three sessions and it features porn celebrity Stoya reading from Supervert’s Necrophilia Variations, a woman named simply Alicia enjoying “Leaves of Grass” from Walt Whitman and art curator Danielle reading “Still Life with Woodpecker” by Tom Robbins.

What’s s interesting about this series is not only the sensational part – about capturing women in a private moment, which might seem scandalous to some, but the fact that the feelings and the struggle of the body of all the characters is real and genuine. And just as everything related to sex, these videos stir a lot of controversy. Danielle, the participant in the third session, who is also an art curator has written a very interesting article after the video. The article beautifully contradicts the common taboo implications of sex being viewed as a low form of art that if involved, lowers the value of the artistic message:

 Art relies on freedom from restraint, which makes it impossible to effectively qualify it. The judgment and categorizations of what is properly art alienates the sole purpose of why art is considered invaluable. The more the pedestal of the art industry is perpetuated, the more the potency behind that art itself is removed – the inevitable sadness of the caged animal.

Kudos to Clayton for his straightforward and original idea and to the open-minded women to take part in the video. We’re looking forward to the next sessions of this video series. Does sex lower the artistic message of these videos?

Update, September 28th, new session is out:

Screenshots and videos credits go to Clayton Cubitt