FLP is joined by the incredible Vex Ashley, independent p0rn director and performer, for a personal lecture investigating the ways in which our sexuality, our bodies and our intimate relationships have been augmented by a life increasingly online…
CLASS DESCRIPTION
Growing up with the advent of the social Internet flung our generation into an unprecedented experiment. For the first time, we had the opportunity to document and disseminate our own image and sexuality outside of the narrow window of traditional p0rn and mainstream media. The infinite interconnectivity of the early online space opened previously unimaginable possibilities for cultural and sexual liberation.
These opportunities sometimes came with the potential to make money, with many, especially women and queer people, harnessing the power of the Internet to monetise s3x online in ways that completely changed the way we saw p0rn.
In this talk, Vex Ashley, looks back through her experience as an artist, a cam girl, and a p0rn performer and creator of over 10 years; on the power and complexity of s3x in the age of the digital attention economy.
Rejecting binary thinking that often demands s3x work be either “empowering” or “degrading” this talk investigates the multifaceted ways we use our image and our bodies. A love letter to 70s artists and niche Internet communities, exploring p0rnography, desire, “ethical/feminist p0rn”, censorship and the ways we are increasingly reduced to advertising and performance for the profit of big business.
Looking at the fluid boundaries between the self and the brand, the power of the screen, the complexity of performance and authenticity and potential road maps for liberation from writers like Audre Lorde and Donna Haraway.
Through a personal lens, this talk investigates the ways in which our sexuality, our bodies and our intimate relationships have been augmented by a life increasingly online and where to go next…
ABOUT OUR LECTURER
Vex Ashley (she/her) is an independent porn director and performer with the Four Chambers project. With a background in analog photography, art school bullshit and digital sex online, Vex worked as a cam girl before beginning to make films as Four Chambers in 2013. Self taught in cinematography with an emphasis on collaborative DIY practices, Four Chambers has spearheaded a new wave of creators making contemporary pornographic work from a new perspective with the aim to expand ideas about what porn can say, do and be. Four Chambers is part of the growing decentralisation from traditional industry practices. Vex speaks, writes and spends a lot of time online talking about making pornography independently, sex as performance, authenticity, art and pornography, technology and sex, camming and online censorship.
INSTAGRAM: @vextape
WEBSITE: afourchamberedheart.com
SPRING TERM 2025
Monday 20th January
Margot Mifflin (she/her)
Beauty Pageants and National Identity
Monday 27th January
Verity Babbs (she/her)
Divergent Minds: Female Neurodiversity in Art and Art History
Monday 3rd February
Vex Ashley (she/her)
The Body And The Screen - Sexuality Against The Machine
Monday 10th February
Luisa-Maria MacCormack (she/her)
Holy Hags: Sinners and Sheela Na Gigs - RECORDING ONLY
Monday 17th February
Dr. Kimberley Baltzer-Jaray (she/they)
Women Who Kill: Gender Bias And Murder
Monday 24th February
Alekszandra Rokvity (she/her)
Endometriosis: A Feminist Issue
Monday 3rd March
TBC
Monday 10th March
Jennifer Anyan (she/her)
The Madonna Whore Dichotomy: Motherhood And Sexual Agency
Monday 17th March
Alyssa Velazquez (she/her)
Spawn: The Fantasy Of Women's Right To Choose
Monday 24th March
Leanne Yau (she/they)
Radical Connection Through Relationship Anarchy
Monday 31st March
Dr. Noam Yadin Evron (she/her)
Abortions: A Complicated History From The Middle Ages To Today
Monday 7th April
Lucy Cooke (she/her)
Bitch: On The Female Of The Species
Monday 14th April
Anna Souter (she/her)
Plant Parenthood: A Potted History Of Vegetal Reproduction And (M)Otherhood
Monday 21st April
Luisa-Maria MacCormack (she/her)
Feminism And The Ice Age - RECORDING ONLY
Monday 28th April
Elora Shehabuddin (she/her)
Feminism And Islam: A History Of Muslim Feminism
RECORDING
A recording of the lecture will be sent out by The Feminist Lecture Program after the event finishes, within 2 hours of the end of the class. This email will also contain any resources/reading list the lecturer shares.
Please add hello@feministlectureprogram.com to your email contacts to ensure you receive the recording as expected.
Please note that the recording will expire 7 days after sending.
PAY WHAT YOU CAN
Everyone is welcome to join this Pay-What-You-Can class. We suggest a donation of £20, however, we understand that may not be possible for everybody. Please be honest and pay what you can afford so that we can continue to offer our sessions on a donation basis.
MORE FLP…
Can’t get enough? The Feminist Lecture Program has our very own digital archive, where you can find some of the best past lectures from our back catalogue to rent and watch ON DEMAND. Check out our ever growing collection here: https://thefeministlectureprogram.vhx.tv/
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And check out our sustainable merch from FLP Studio at https://feministlectureprogram.com/shop & @flp__studio
And that's it!
We're really looking forward to you joining us x