The future of porn

In the critically acclaimed HBO-series The Deuce, the story of the rise of porn is told through the scope of several New York-based, adult-film actors, directors and industrials. Beginning in the 1970s, the rise of adult entertainment is paradoxically associated with the emancipation of women on the one hand, and violence and exploitation on the other. Whereas the series ends in the mid-eighties, the history of porn continues in the nineties and enters an altogether new phase with the rise of the internet in the past decade.

This afternoon we will look into the future of porn. Erotic filmmaker and artist Jennifer Lyon Bell will speak about her work. Jennifer Lyon Bell is known for seeking the essence of erotic interaction, portraying sexuality in an emotionally realistic way. In her view, sexuality is first of all fluid. With Jennifer and researcher Eliza Steinbock we will engage in a conversation about emancipation and the representation of diversity in porn, about porn as an art form, about the shift in talking about and studying pornography or in short: about the future of porn. The event is moderated by Linda Duits.

About the speaker

Jennifer Lyon Bell is a US-born filmmaker who lives and creates erotic film in the Netherlands. She runs Blue Artichoke Films, a studio with a slogan of “Erotic film for people who like film.” With her movie ‘Adorn’, she won the NVVS Seks en Media Prijs 2019, a Dutch national sexology award for creating positive dialogue and change around sexuality.

Eliza Steinbock is Assistant Professor in Cultural Analysis at Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society. They were awarded degrees in Cultural Studies and in Cultural Analysis (funded PhD from the University of Amsterdam, 2011). Eliza takes an interdisciplinary perspective towards the following socially relevant challenges: the aesthetics of bodily difference, the politics of visual culture, the practice of inclusivity and cultural participation. This research brings them to a wide range of visual culture mediums like film, digital media, photography, painting, and museum display, with a special focus on analyzing the intersecting dimensions of gender, sexuality, race, and ability.

Moderator: Linda Duits.