Liquid Desire Map
This work explores the most intimate negotiations of human bodily boundaries through the convergence of three liquid mediums: water, lubricant, and bodily fluids. The work examines the multiple implications of liquids as connecting mediums, extending from their practical physiological functions to their symbolic emotional connections, revealing the complex dynamics within intimate relationships.
Through in-depth interviews with the gay male community, this research reveals the multiple roles that lubricant plays in intimate relationships. Physiologically, it is an essential auxiliary substance; emotionally, it becomes a crucial medium for establishing trust and intimacy. This duality provides a unique perspective for understanding intimate relationships.
The work employs Petri dishes as vessels to document the dynamic fusion process of various liquids. This microscopic world becomes an experimental field for exploring abjection, presenting the dialectical relationship between repulsion and attraction. By deliberately mixing bodily fluids often considered "unclean," the work directly challenges societal notions of cleanliness while revealing people's hidden attractions to these rejected substances.
Our research discovered an intriguing yet enlightening phenomenon: clear recognition of self-boundaries actually forms the foundation for achieving deeper intimacy. Like the phenomena observed in Petri dishes, different liquids maintain their unique properties during fusion while creating new possibilities for interaction. This observation points to a crucial insight: only with a complete understanding and respect for each other's boundaries can we truly experience the intimacy of boundary dissolution.
Through the metaphor of liquid mediums, this work reconsiders the negotiation of boundaries in intimate relationships. It challenges established social imaginations and frameworks of intimacy while proposing a vital thesis: true intimacy lies not in completely eliminating boundaries but in creating new possibilities for interaction through understanding and respecting each other's boundaries.
Artist：Gui Yu Qian & Leo Kao & Cinzia