Red Star Motel

This is a series from Chinese photographers Liu Song and Chili called Red Star Motel. I'm very interested in the transformation of the same space through the varying of character and activity. The explicit violence of the series - whether sexual, brutal, or kinetic - is in sharp contrast to the drab, quotidian hotel room. I like this series particularly as a contrast to some of the other images I've posted, which have been consistently clean and distanced. These are everything but.

The Drive Through Strip-Club

This is actually in Pittsburgh. You drive up to a little diamond window (see below) and apparently watch whatever stripper is performing on stage inside.

Last week I was trying to articulate to Michael why I'm so interested in stripclubs and peepshows - I think it has something to do with the male gaze that Kendra posted about. The peepshow both heightens and demonstrates the act of viewing, makes it more illicit. It is not voyeurism because the object of desire is aware of the viewer. It is a complicit relationship between the object and the observer. How can we make our audience feel complicit in the action, yet alienated from it?

Also, think about Act Three, in which there are several layers of observation. Alwa oogles Lulu during their tryst. Rodrigo and Geschwitz spy on Lulu and Alwa. Schoning watches Rodrigo and Geschwitz spying. And we as the audiece watch Schoning watch Rodrigo and Geschwits watch Lulu and Alwa.