The Gutterotica Manifesto - FUCK ART!

The only difference between pornography and erotic art is that one needs a bullshit story to justify its existence (an artist's statement,) and the other has the audacity to stand upon its own merits, as an expression of a human being's baser insticts, without apology or explanation. Gutterotica is at once a hypocritical compromise and the Grand Unification Theory (GUT) that bridges the intellectual honesty gap between erotica and pornography. Gutterotica functions by presenting imagery common to both pornography and erotica, taken to its most disturbing extreme. This is done with great care to maintain the humanity of the participants, regardless of how malevolent, objectified or dehumanized they are. Gutterotica is post-feminist, post-nihilist, horrific, fetishistic, offensive, thought-provoking, contradictory, subcontrary and self-mocking.

Gutterotica is guttural: It gives creative minds the ability to speak with a voice that is at once grating to the general sensibilities of civil society, and pleasing to the ear of those who need an outlet of release. This voice should always be fictional, and it should never be used to harm living beings in the real world. Gutterotic artists should always make a concerted effort to warn away those individuals whose psyches are not ready this type of expression, as well as those persons who are charged with protecting the well-being of those individuals. When possible, accessibility to gutterotica should be restricted. If those who are warned or shielded away from gutterotica chose to ignore the warnings, then the artist should not be blamed. If the artist purposely denies or destroys the viewer's option to avoid participation in gutterotica, the artist also destroys his/her credibility as someone able to speak with the guttural voice of this artistic genre. Shock for shock's sake is not gutterotica. An agreement between the viewer and the creator to be mutual participants in the artist's shocking fantasy world, is essential for gutterotica.

Gutterotica is a psychic gutter: It provides a safe outlet for the expression of frustrations, anger, disturbing desires, hatred, vengeance and the darkest exploratory urges of otherwise responsible and functional adults who are able to distinguish reality and fantasy by providing a metaphorical outlet. Practioners of gutterotica recognize the benefits and dangers of artistic expression with open eyes. Gutterotica artists seek to find a balance between social responsibility and brutal art that knows no boundaries. It takes evil imagery from the hands of predators and transforms it into a way for former victims to see the thought process those who treat them as prey, even if there is no desire to comprehend why or sympathize with how the mind of the predator works that way. With this knowledge victims can decisively end the cycle of being prey by developing a trust of insticts and developing an immunity the paralyzing effects of fear.

Gutterotica helps desensitize victims of evil acts by helping them confront their phobias head on. Once desensitization is complete, the artist or viewer that can benefit from gutterotica by looking at the horrific visions from an objective standpoint. If gutterotica serves its function, those who are able to ask questions about why the horror depicted in the images exist in fantasy as distilled from the reality filters of the artist. If the viewer and the artist can do this with honesty and compassion, then a sensibility will return, but not necessarily to the depictions of evil, but to the causes of evil.

Gutterotica serves its function when both the viewer and artist will be moved to find ways to prevent, fight or create awareness of conditions and situations that foster inhuman behaviors in otherwise "human" beings. Nevertheless, gutterotica is not a psychiatric tool. It can be potentially detrimental to those who are either unable to cope with the past, unable to distinguish fantasy from reality, and those who are too young or immature to understand the power of harsh imagery. Gutterotica exists for artists who are ready to face their fears and memories, for those whose experience with evil has been so extreme that traditional methods of group therapy fails to provide an outlet to let go of pain, or viewers who are curious about the imagery from an aesthetic, emotional, instictive and/ot philosophical standpoint.

Gutterotic expression takes guts: This artistic approach offers no justifications or apologies. Creative minds that choose this path may find relentless opposition. Gutterotica is not for everyone, and not everyone needs to appreciate gutterotica. Gutterotica exists for the sake of existing, not public consumption, even if there are times when the public accepts, or even embraces, gutterotica.

The application of gutterotica on the human psyche is untested and cannot be verified as a legitimate artistic theory until further analysis can verify or disprove the claims presented in this document. With this in mind, the author of this document believes that she benefited such creative expression in the manner described by this manifesto. Whether the effects of gutterotic art on the author of this document were simply a fortunate fluke or a verifiable phenomenon, is not relevant. The only thing that matters to her is that gutterotica is serving its function in her life. Everything else is for the public and history to decide.

Contact vlw@eroticillusions.com for futher clarification, or if you wish to be listed as a supporter of gutterotic art priciples. To experience Vanesa Littlecrow W.'s works focusing on gutterotic principles, visit http://upirsmark.com. This is a work in progress. by Vanesa Littlecrow W.