31 Jan 2022
Ep2 | Let’s Talk About Desire | 让我们来聊聊欲望吧
Midnight Ephemeral Talks
Episode Two
Let’s Talk About Desire
“Love and appetite are both fundamental parts of human nature; when they are inaccessible, they become obstacles to one's life.” Wang Xiaobo once said. This is a perfect line as the opening for our second episode, “Let’s Talk About Desire”, where we move from appetite to sexual desire and other kinds of contextualized desires.
This time, we, Alyssa and Somer, invite two friends, Bo and Indu, to join us and talk about desire, erotics, human connection, fear, addiction, repression and many more. Our talk starts with Somer’s recent live performance “Me and My Desired and Desiring Body”, and moves on to several questions regarding desire such as “What is your first association when it comes to desire?”, “Where does your desire come from?” and so on. Each guest has different approaches yet equally inspiring responses; it’s true that we may never universalize human desire, any attempt to unite desire may turn into violent actions.
This time, we have a German-English speaking guest, so our episode two is in English. For Chinese speakers, we provide you with a written introduction and an oral pretext in Chinese, please check below and listen to the pretext. We hope this will be helpful for you. For a bookmark-included and speakers-visible version, please go to our Youtube Channel and watch/listen to our (hopefully) sleeping-aid midnight talks.
Our takeaway question is: What is your first association with desire?
Looking forward to hearing from yooou and your ephemeral bodies.
Ephemeral Studio Berlin
Jan.2022
If you are still with me, as an appetizer, we got some quotes from this episode for you:
I always feel that I’m a stranger in my birthplace; since little, my biggest desire is to leave for somewhere else, somewhere different, though I don’t really know what a “Bigger Outside World” really means.
Back then, I had a lot of self doubt, self criticism, I think that’s one of the side effects of having idols. It could be a kind of motivation, but if it does not suit your default setting, it can be a problem. Now, I stop living a life according to my idols. Now, I’m more like a blank canvas, no idols above me, I write my own stories.
I had goals, but I failed, because the methods didn’t work, it was too organized, too rigid, too in a box for me. I can’t grow freely, so I’m trying not to do that (new year resolution). But I’m still looking forward to the future and trying to embrace it, but not in such a strict way.
The things that matter to me: How do I desire? With what kind of specific situations, things, conditions could desire be productive? I go with the flow of life, and I prefer to enjoy the process, with intensity of desire.
References:
Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotics: The erotic as Power, 1978.
Sexuality, in: MacKinnon, Catharine A. Toward a Feminist Theory of the State. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1989. pp.126-154.
Julian Barnes, Death, Penguin, Vintage Minis, 2017.
Books Alyssa mentioned:
Luke Burgis, Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life, 2021.
