Sexual Display from the Abyss: Octopuses between Heteronormativy and Exorbitance

In relation to the visual perception of sea animals’ sexualities, Benedetta Panisson worked on Sexual Display from the Abyss: Octopuses between Heterormativity and Exorbitance (2022), presented at the 11th European Feminist Research Conference, sharing in this occasion the complete and unpublished 1993 footage, thanks to the collaboration with WHOI, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The resulting paper has been published in Matter Journal: Situating research on art, technological practices and literature (Vol. 7, 2023). The research focuses on a footage recorded in 1993 by WHOI at 2500m depth. It is the first visual experience of sexual activity between abyssal octopuses in their oceanic habitat: they are two males of two different species. This paper aims to analyze the gendered, affective, and moral structures that have produced texts and voice-offs in relation to this visuality, letting emerge how a transcultural, feminist, queer, and artistic gaze can lead to a reparative stance, beyond a replicated heteronormativity perceived as threatening, towards a more relaxed intimacy with animal sexualities, including a hybrid sense of eroticism that accompanies the human attraction for visual sexualities.

Technical Details
Panel + academic publication + 15 minutes betamax video footage by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Exhibitions/Panels/Publications
Sexual Display from the Abyss: Octopuses between Heteronormativity and Exorbitance published on Matter Journal, Vol. 7 (2023): Situating research on art, technological practices and literature | Read it here: https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/matter/article/view/42245/39307 ; the panel has been presented at the 11th European Feminist Research Conference, organized by AtGender (NL) and Milano-Bicocca University, 2022.