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This was the first piece of a series that I've done for a group exhibition called SEXSELLS: Observations of an Eroticised Consumer Culture. Here's the Tumblr: sexsells2012.tumblr.com/

The artists could respond to the theme in whichever way they wanted, but for me, the first thing that came to mind was what I perceived to be an increasing fetishisation of mobile devices and other technological gadgets, especially Apple products, as they've slowly moved from tools of business to tools of leisure/pleasure and recreation.

I remembered the first time I used an iPod and the rubbing circular motion with which you needed to scroll. It was weird... haha. It was a tingly, sensual experience, and still is. I love caressing these things. With my fingers and my face. MY FACE. I can't get enough. I'm big on tactility and materials, and so are the general public (albeit perhaps not to that same extent) whether they realise it or not, and the designers know it. The inherent "nippliness" of the concentric circles was too hard to ignore. So I kept these thoughts and intended to make something of them one day, and now finally I've had an excuse to!

This is kinda hilarious...lol. And quite grotesque. I had it on the living room floor and my Mum had to move it to another room...away.

It's completely commonplace to call your iPhone - or your car, or kitchen or whatever for that matter - sexy, and somehow they are. But we should think about the implications of that. Sex, sensuality, physical sensation and pleasure, sensory feedback, tactility... these really are an underlying motivation in a very subconscious way for buying certain products that have nothing to do with sex. Designers, marketers and advertisers know this, and use it extremely effectively to manipulate and in some ways subvert. We don't consciously realise that in all their sleek shininess, smoothness, increasingly organic form and glamour-shot shadowing, these products are being presented to us as objects of fetish.

The following is my artist statement which we had to provide..it's probably all convoluted, but maybe it will help with further context:

Touch & Technofetish: This series explores the increasingly erotic undertones in our relationships with modern technological devices - most effectively symbolised by Apple products such as iPhones - from their physical design and fetishistic advertising, to the stimulation-based way in which we’re intended to interact with them. These digital photomontage compositions are supplemented by two abstract watercolour paintings that deal more organically with physical stimulation and sensory pleasure, and the common forms used to express these sensations.

Anyway, hope you like it! One of my odd forays into photomanipulation. There are a couple more to come. I'd love to know what you think about this, as well as sex in advertising or product design in general!

*Nipple and skin texture from Corbis: www.corbisimages.com/stock-pho…
*iPod reference my own

Follow me on Facebook for a more compelling and rich Simanion experience: www.facebook.com/simanion

Share "Circular Motion" on Facebook: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi…
Reblog "Circular Motion" on Tumblr: simanion.tumblr.com/post/20911…

Description
This was the first piece of a series that I've done for a group exhibition called SEXSELLS: Observations of an Eroticised Consumer Culture. Here's the Tumblr: sexsells2012.tumblr.com/

The artists could respond to the theme in whichever way they wanted, but for me, the first thing that came to mind was what I perceived to be an increasing fetishisation of mobile devices and other technological gadgets, especially Apple products, as they've slowly moved from tools of business to tools of leisure/pleasure and recreation.

I remembered the first time I used an iPod and the rubbing circular motion with which you needed to scroll. It was weird... haha. It was a tingly, sensual experience, and still is. I love caressing these things. With my fingers and my face. MY FACE. I can't get enough. I'm big on tactility and materials, and so are the general public (albeit perhaps not to that same extent) whether they realise it or not, and the designers know it. The inherent "nippliness" of the concentric circles was too hard to ignore. So I kept these thoughts and intended to make something of them one day, and now finally I've had an excuse to!

This is kinda hilarious...lol. And quite grotesque. I had it on the living room floor and my Mum had to move it to another room...away.

It's completely commonplace to call your iPhone - or your car, or kitchen or whatever for that matter - sexy, and somehow they are. But we should think about the implications of that. Sex, sensuality, physical sensation and pleasure, sensory feedback, tactility... these really are an underlying motivation in a very subconscious way for buying certain products that have nothing to do with sex. Designers, marketers and advertisers know this, and use it extremely effectively to manipulate and in some ways subvert. We don't consciously realise that in all their sleek shininess, smoothness, increasingly organic form and glamour-shot shadowing, these products are being presented to us as objects of fetish.

The following is my artist statement which we had to provide..it's probably all convoluted, but maybe it will help with further context:

Touch & Technofetish: This series explores the increasingly erotic undertones in our relationships with modern technological devices - most effectively symbolised by Apple products such as iPhones - from their physical design and fetishistic advertising, to the stimulation-based way in which we’re intended to interact with them. These digital photomontage compositions are supplemented by two abstract watercolour paintings that deal more organically with physical stimulation and sensory pleasure, and the common forms used to express these sensations.

Anyway, hope you like it! One of my odd forays into photomanipulation. There are a couple more to come. I'd love to know what you think about this, as well as sex in advertising or product design in general!

*Nipple and skin texture from Corbis: www.corbisimages.com/stock-pho…
*iPod reference my own

Follow me on Facebook for a more compelling and rich Simanion experience: www.facebook.com/simanion

Share "Circular Motion" on Facebook: www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbi…
Reblog "Circular Motion" on Tumblr: simanion.tumblr.com/post/20911…