Bible: For When I Will Die
Book Review
Artist: Marcel Swann
Photobook: Bible: For When I Will Die
Publisher: King Koala Editions
Specs: Softcover, 210 x 297 mm, 250 pages
Price: €45
Art or porn? A question that I often get asked (probably because I curated a magazine with erotic photography), as if I was some live porn detector. Who the hell knows?! I didn’t make the definitions or categories so to me they don’t matter. Nudity was always present in art, to be exact, from the very beginning, the traces can be seen already in cave paintings and continue throughout the entirety of art history. So, why did we become such prudes nowadays concerned with constant correctness, turning our bodies into stiff shells while inside we feel like little volcanoes that are about to explode at any time? A place, where such a small volcano did explode, is Marcel Swann’s (b. 1986, Brazil) latest photobook Bible: For When I Will Die.
Swann approached it as an acknowledgment of his sexual practices, in particular his adherence to paraphilia. It was born out of the urge to disclose his frustrations with not being able to live up to his sexuality in a free way because of the shame imposed by society. The term “paraphilia” can be defined as “recurrent sexual interests, urges, fantasies, or behaviors of marked intensity involving objects, activities, or even situations that are atypical in nature.” In the book, he opens us to his world of power play, period sex, group sex, fear play, foot fetish, and many more.
How far can we go in intimate relations and where is the limit? Swann is the one in charge of setting the boundary, not the society this time. The artist is very much present, we can see parts of his limbs in the frame — his direct involvement in the scenes. Giving us access to something incredibly private, to something happening behind closed doors, we start to feel the rush of exclusivity.
He plays with different photographic techniques — digital, analogue, fragmentary snapshots, more staged scenes, sharp or blurred aesthetics, all is there. Subsequently, we are subject to the artist’s freedom of expression, where he submerges remnants of reality in voyeurism, unconstrained libido, and deep subconscious desires; simply, raw pleasure.
“One might expect to witness the vulnerability of the people that Swann is engaging with, who are portrayed fully nude with their faces visible. However, it is actually the fragility and intimacy of the artist that is vehemently present.“
What I find interesting is the fact that one might expect to witness the vulnerability of the people that Swann is engaging with, who are portrayed fully nude with their faces visible. However, it is actually the fragility and intimacy of the artist that is vehemently present, encapsulating the entirety of the publication.
In connection to such exposure and loss of self, Leo Bersani and Adam Phillips’ co-joint book Intimacies (2008) comes to mind. In this fascinating dialogue about the problems and possibilities of human intimacy, Bersani states: “It is indeed strange that we find it so difficult to welcome…the blissful nature of the loss of the power of selfhood — a power it was, in any case, always an illusion to think we possessed.” Letting go of this idea and surrendering to these primal impulses, is indeed, greatly liberating.
To maybe come back to the question I posed in the very beginning, erotica, to me has this additional layer that transcends mere sexual arousal as is visible in porn. For instance with Swann’s work, it is his quest for freedom of expression that strips away the unbearable pressure of social construction that I find deeply poetic. Its realness hits right in the spot and injects agency in all the people involved. With a flush of desire and fetishes, sashimi of the subconscious, we jump on the wave of this erotic dream.
Swann’s Bible shows us an intense and fearless side of the medium, it is presented as a memoir of sorts — to relive the wild times. It’s either contagious or alienating. However, what is important is that the book does something to us, evoking a reaction, be it physical or mental. Submerging in the joy of Swann’s portrayal of the unconstrained self might leave us with the impulse to re-contact some individuals who might have come up in one of our sexy flashbacks when flipping the pages.
“Submerging in the joy of Swann’s portrayal of the unconstrained self might leave us with the impulse to re-contact some individuals who might have come up in one of our sexy flashbacks when flipping the pages.”
Bible: For When I Will Die is available for purchase via King Koala Editions here.
Marcel Swann
was born in 1986 in Brazil and later moved to Tuscany, Italy. Coming from a background of a graffiti artist, he used photography to document the works of others and his own. Through such a process, he realized the medium might be something he wanted to explore further. When he was 23, he moved to Birmingham, the UK, and a year after to Los Angeles, the US. In this period, Swann began to use the medium in a more professional way, leading to exhibitions in Italy and abroad. His work can be traced in his deep study of philosophy, psychoanalysis and literature while being a direct reflection if his thoughts, desires, and intimate life.
King Koala Editions
is an independent publisher based in Milan focusing on limited-edition books and magazines.
Text by Linda Zhengová
Curator of Discarded Magazine & XXX
She is a photographer and writer dealing with the topics of trauma, gender and sexuality.