Sergio Messina works strongly as a DJ, music and media artist. He co-ordinates the sound design school at IED, in Milan. In addition to his teaching, he writes regularly about alt-sex and music in a number of magazines, including Rolling Stone and In Sound. Currently a visiting artist-faculty at the Art Institute of Chicago, Messina is touring his Realcore show, which explores the development and vitality of Internet amateur pornography.¨

Q: From working with music and journalism, how did you start to observe porn critically?
A: When I went online in ´96 I obviously searched for what was there, and of course porn was already very big. Most of it was scans from ´80s magazines, but slowly, with the appearance of digital tools (such as digicams and free web spaces) a new style started to appear. It was very clear to me that this new material was truly different: politically, aesthetically, formally and substantially.

Q: What do you think of hard-core, soft-core expressions of porn and how does Realcore differ?
A: Realcore seems to be concerned primarily with showing that whatever is happening in pictures and videos is real. Also, while industrial porn is clearly a spectator sport, amateur Realcore suggests emulation: in order to make it, all you need is a camera, a body and a mind.

Gallery: Realcore

Q: You´re interested in how Realcore is without predictable production elements like light, makeup and backdrops. What effects in shooting or composition do you think relay a greater actualism?
A: There are a few, but the most relevant seem to be two: a wider shooting angle, one that captures a whole scene rather than the typical (and annoying, at least to me) genital close-ups of industrial porno. The other is the almost total absence of editing in amateur videos. This is not because they cannot edit, or don´t have the tools: I believe it´s to lend a greater realism to the footage. And of course, as anyone who has watched amateur footage (on TV channels such as truTV in the U.S., or in the news) knows, the lower the resolution, the greater the temperature.

Q: In images that portray a situation, like with wide angles, do you find that necessarily relays a greater degree of realism than approaches that look more closely at bodies?
A: With wide-angle images (pics or video) you get a feel of a whole situation. Also, as there are less details, the viewer naturally integrates what he/she cannot see clearly with whatever is in their mind. This effect can get very extreme, for example in footage shot in the dark with an infrared camera. There you have what I call Rorschach porno: each person will see/imagine something different.

Q: What do you think of the development of alternative sexual communities online?
A: It´s an important first step towards the development of alternative sexual communities offline, in the meatspace. Sex and porn, in my opinion, are going to be very important political tools in the future – even more than they already are. One example is the generational clash around posting oneself nude online: for teenagers it is very natural, cool and transgressive, while for most parents it´s very bad. That´s also why I like to say that porn is going to be the next rock ´n´ roll: it seems to be the primary tool for generational conflict, and one of the few free contemporary areas of expression.

Q: What do you think of the evolution of subniches for many different sexual groups? How do you find you relate to the proliferation of varieties in these groups?
A: In many cases it seems a bit nerdy to me, especially those ultra-detailed micro-differences. Still, I can see how someone sexually attracted by inflatable animals can ignore plush ones, and vice versa. I believe this is the beginning of a new sexual revolution, so there are some oddities and excesses that will be smoothed out in time. The sub-sub-subniches could be one of those. Personally I still prefer umbrella definitions like Queer or Alt-Sex.

Q: How do you think the groups can relate to each other?
A: In a political way: no matter if you´re into hiccups, rubber undies or bathing fully dressed, we all have some issues in common, mostly political ones. For example, telling your family that you´re gay isn´t very different from saying you´re into BDSM, or even a swinger. So the politics of sexuality are certainly a common ground for all groups.

Q: What do you think of how camera phones are affecting this sexual growth?
A: Realcorers are natural tech users, so they will adopt whatever technology is easier, handier and quicker. At the moment, cam-phones are not only the most common digital cameras, but with 3G one can post images, and even stream video, directly from a handheld device. This of course keeps the resolution low, but allows for a more direct approach to making personal porn.

Q: What do you think of how some of these sites don’t focus on nudity?
A: One of the phrases I like best to describe new porn is: "porno is in the eye of the beholder." The non-nude sexual sites (such as those for cross-dressers or special fabric fetishes, like corduroy lovers) challenge the concept of pornography (which means "the depiction or the description of prostitutes"). So, next time someone stares at your shoes or jacket, remember: you might be in the presence of someone who fetishizes that particular item.

Q: I’m curious what homage practices you’ve found using technology.
A: Realcore porn is highly interactive, in that you can actually get in touch via email with the makers, who, being exhibitionists, are quite happy to know their images are liked and used. Users very often come up with special requests, for a particular scene or situation, that makers are usually happy to accommodate. In some cases the users like so much what they see that they print the image and create a tribute shot: they masturbate and come on the print (or somehow physically interact with the image), then photograph the final result and publish it.

Q: How do you see processes of true gift economies, where goods and services are regularly given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future rewards?
A: I find the expression "gift economy" somehow misleading, as it suggests some kind of generosity. I think altruism has very little to do with this, as well as with users´ websites, blogs or platforms like Flickr or YouTube. There´s narcissism, sexual pleasure in knowing that someone will get off on your pics, the desire to explore sexual situations and be public about it ... Let´s put it this way: not gift economy, but a kind of satisfaction barter.

Q: Would you describe some of these sites?
A: Most of the material I use was found in the Usenet newsgroups, probably the last truly free areas of the web. Yahoo! groups have been quite a source for years (but then Yahoo! stopped listing sex groups in searches). The websites are usually homemade, fairly amateurish in style but often full of technologies like live chats or video streaming.

Q: Have you noticed certain patterns in the proliferation of these sites, in terms of how amateur or cottage media can also influence each other?
A: There is definitely a new language of porn in development, and even mainstream pornography is aware of this. A good example is POV (point of view) shooting, where a scene is seen through the eyes of one of the participants. This was originally an amateur style, now widely adopted both by pros and amateurs alike. There are several other examples of this influence.

Q: How do you see the documentary-like attitude in these sites? Do you think these groups perceive they’re engaging in forms of documentary media or arts?
A: I´ve contacted most of the people whose images I use in my show, and while (being exhibitionists) they´re very happy to let me use them, they are rarely aware of the differences, or political value, of what they are doing. For most of them it is a natural extension of their sexual self, and nothing more.

Q: How do you see your interest in Realcore affecting your work with sensual musicology?
A: There is a common theme in both, and the keyword is reclaiming: porn, a genre that for decades has been produced by few for many, or musicology – a science that requires technical skills and a profound knowledge of history. I think that art should reclaim musicology to the realm of senses, and that is what the Sensual Musicology concept is about.

Q: What sorts of social, sexual changes do you feel this imagery extends?
A: Porn today is becoming a tool for liberation, and this is especially evident in the relationship younger people have with making it: there´s only one thing sanctioned in social networks such as MySpace or Facebook, and that is posting yourself nude: I believe that´s why so many adolescents do it. Sexuality has been already an important political tool for change: I´m thinking of the feminist movements or gay lib. I think it´s time that straight people start thinking about a very simple question quite common in sexual minorities: "What am I?" Many of them will discover that straight isn´t a satisfactory definition, even if they actually are heterosexual.

Q: Are you delving more deeply into Realcore?
A: I´m finally writing the Realcore book, that should be ready by next fall, and I´m working on my next concept/show – working title "The Ministry of Alt Sex." It´ll be much more political than the Realcore show, and again with an optimistic message: kinky sex, along with the true discovery of oneself, will save the Western world and will rescue that feeling so rare and elusive in the 21st-century Western society: love.¨¨

For more info:
www.sergiomessina.com
www.daridire.net¨
Email Sergio Messina: ragla@radiogladio.it

Louise Bak is a poet, with books including Tulpa and Gingko Kitchen. She co-hosts Sex City, Toronto’s only radio show focused on relations between sexuality and culture (CIUT 89.5 FM). Her performance work has appeared in numerous spaces and in video collaborations such as Partial Selves and Crimes of the Heart.