Essays by Peter Prevos

Material Culture & Commodity Culture

Jeff Koons, Jeff Eating Ilona (Kama Sutra), 1991. Glass 39 x 56 x 31 cm). Copyright Jeff Koons

These essays were written for the course Material Culture & Commodity Culture from Griffith University. The essays discuss pornography from the perspective of material culture studies in sociology. The first essay is an analysis of an adult bookshop in Bendigo, arguing that the architecture and esign of the shop is a reflection of pornography's special status in contemporary society. The second essay illustrates how studying the place of pornography within contemporary society can provide valuable insights into the ethical boundaries and anxieties that opersate within it. Both essays seek to go beyond the ethical debate about pornography and its perceived negative influence on people.

The photo depicts a work by controversial contemporary artist Jeff Koons (Jeff Eating Ilona (Kama Sutra), 1991. Glass 39 x 56 x 31 cm). It forms part of Made in Heaven, a series of sexually explicit sculptures and photographs produced between 1989 and 1991, which explores the boundaries between art and pornography.

Essays