Annie Sprinkle : Post Porn Modernist

Annie Sprinkle is a prostitute/porn star turned artist/sexologist. She explores sexuality through her unique brand of feminist sex films, writings, artworks, performances, and teachings. Sprinkle has long championed sex worker rights and health care, and was pivotal in the Sex Positive Feminist Movement of the 1980's. She received her BFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City and was the first porn star to earn a Ph.D, which was awarded to her by the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Sexuality in San Francisco. For many years, Sprinkle has collaborated with her long time partner, Elizabeth Stephens, an artist and UCSC professor. Sprinkle and Stephens are active leaders of the Ecosex Movement, where they are committed to making environmental activism more sexy, fun, and diverse through artistic gestures. www.anniesprinkle.org / www.sexecology.org.

Post Porn Modernist chronicles Annie Sprinkle's careers as a sex worker, pro-sex activist, and artist. Sprinkle begins with her transformation from Ellen Steinberg to Annie Sprinkle, an act that prompted her sexual revolution. In this process of becoming, Sprinkle critiques patriarchal ideals of female sexuality and second-wave feminist anti-porn agendas. While critical of the male gaze, Sprinkle engages the gesture by posing on her own terms and affirming her sexual pleasure to re-appropriate the gaze throughout the performance. She provides a playful critique of the National Endowment for the Arts, alluding to her exhibit Carnival Knowledge (1984) presented by Franklin Furnace, which was reprimanded by the federal agency for its feminist pornographic content. Sprinkle discusses the labor politics of the sex work industry and her close relationships to clients, some of whom were disabled, lesbian, transgender, or gay men with HIV/AIDS. During the AIDS epidemic, Sprinkle focused her sex work on developing new practices such as the breath orgasm, a technique created with Barbara Carrellas, which allowed those infected with the disease to experience pleasure without having intercourse. This shift in Sprinkle's work prompted the transformation of Annie into Anya, a persona who embodies the sacred energy of ancient goddess prostitutes. Post Porn Modernist was intended to be part of Franklin Furnace's 'History of the Future' (1999) netcast on Pseudo Programs, Incorporated's The Performance Channel (www.channelp.com); however, the corporation went bankrupt during the height of the culture wars leaving the performance footage dormant until published in full length by HIDVL in 2015.