The Club 57 exhibit at MoMA is a tribute to a low-budget cultural hub. Club 57’s bright colors, the vivid characters and the emotional vulnerability present in the space create an essence of exploration and of acceptance for the “other.” There is also a clear rejection of cultural norms and rigidity. I was especially moved by the intense acceptance evident in Listen to This by Tom Rubnitz. During the early parts of the AIDS crisis, the United States’ government organizations were not spreading awareness of the disease and safe sex practices effectively, especially in regards to minority and LGBTQ communities. A Smithsonian. Com article about an AIDS exhibit in 2013, states that much of the government’s $600 million AIDS-prevention budget was used instead to combat the disease among college students, heterosexual women and others who faced a relatively low risk of contracting the disease. In addition to this, much of the AIDs awareness pamphlets and posters used fear mongering as a means of gaining attention. Fear mongering did not give any solutions or tips like condoms and clean needle usage. Instead in many cases simply having sex was reprimanded. Many people diagnosed with the disease, likely felt condemned for their behavior by this propaganda. Tom Rubnitz’s piece combats this by highlighting the naturalness of sex and human desire. In the video, he describes his lust for his great partner in great detail. The camera zooms in on his partner’s bare chest and neck, which helps us to understand the narrator’s unique experience of attraction. What is particularly interesting about this piece is that while we do not know if the sex is a casual fling or part of a more committed relationship, there is a powerful reverence for his partner’s body evident in the narrator’s focus on his partner’s pleasure and his detailed description of his partner’s penis. His work does not condemn sex but rather highlights the beauty of such an intimate interaction. As a result, Rubnitz combats conservative group’s fear mongering and the perpetuation of negative sex ideas and protects the ability for people to explore their sexualities in healthy ways. This represents ideas of intense acceptance and experimentation which were characteristic of Club 57.
I enjoyed your analysis on Tom Rubnizt’s art piece. It is interesting to put art into context because people sometimes focus solely on what the art is trying to say, not the history behind it. When put into context, the meaning behind the art increases. It is not a piece created just for lust. It shows the beauty of sex by going against the norm. It portrays sex as something natural, not as something taboo. I also like how you point out the artist’s reverence for his partner’s body, which shows their mutual respect and encourages people to practice sex in healthy ways.
I loved your thesis on reporting sex in a different way. Sex is often a taboo, and many people do not live it.