The SECOND SEX WAR exhibition by Sidsel Meineche Hansen uses an Oculus Rift and three-dimensional (3D) animations to explore how gender is reproduced in virtual reality (VR) sex videos.

Hansen is well known for her exhibitions and seminars that review the body and its industrial complex. Her latest exhibition, commissioned by Gasworks, London, uses common sexual representations of the female form to highlight the polarity of gender in adult content currently available for virtual reality.

Rob Sharp from Artsy described the exhibit:

“Looking down while wearing an Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, the viewer sees a computer-generated torso gyrating erotically around an abstract shape. Pulsating music blasts in the background as the camera angle automatically shifts to view a sexualized avatar’s unmistakably female face.”

SECOND SEX WAR refers to the feminist sex wars of the 1970s and 80s when the nature of explicit content was under debate. While a large slice of feminists believed women’s bodies were being exploited by the patriarchy, others considered female nudity an empowering aspect of free speech. Hansen’s latest work adds a fresh perspective. She subscribes to neither view presented in the sex wars, and instead, offers an alternative.

Read the full piece at Future of Sex. 

Image via: myvirtuallady