The word revel is commonly used today to convey delight and celebration. And it’s roots go deeper than that to the Old French word reveler - to rise up in rebellion. Revel Body is a collection of image and story curated to rise up and flourish amidst restrictive social norms about how our bodies should look, love, heal, work, rest and find pleasure.
The health and sovereignty of our connection with our organs of origin deeply impacts our sense of self. For this reason, Revel Body is focusing on the organs of origin as a starting point for our research into human potential. We believe that much of the violence, apathy and loneliness on Earth is related to the suppression of and misinformation about eros, pleasure and sexuality.
In times of collapse, it is wise to study the things that continue to rise! The organs of origin swell with the desire to engage every day. They carry codes for collaboration that inspire humanity to continue to collaborate against all odds.
Human pleasure and erotic power are only possible in relationship with the earthbody. When that relationship is extractive or fleeting, the effect shows up in the most intimate places. The porn industry is now humanity’s largest, most used sexual education platform.
And it can be another way.
The research team of artists and models will co-create 22 portraits of the organs of origin painted from life and accompanied by the personal story of the model who is part of the research team.
Revel Body’s learning pathways about pleasure agency, creative sovereignty, and embodied knowing are informed by somatic art making.
Each anatomical study begins by crafting a container to first hold the feeling of what it is to embody the organs of origin. Storytelling and art making become intuitive when we move at the speed of the body. Sensations, feelings, impulses, desires and memories are valuable guides for the creative process. We invite ancestral connection, imagination and relationship with the earthbody into the journey of creating these images.
Revel Body invites both a celebration of pleasure and a deeper understanding of the many ways we live through, endure, and transform our struggles.
We believe it is our birthright to receive beautiful, affirming, evolving, sex positive materials to learn about anatomy, sexuality and power. To fit these criteria, these materials must be created in consensual environments of mutual care and inquiry.
Many people, especially young people, live in the story that they are weird, disgusting or broken when it comes to their organs of origin.
Revel Body is creating more accurate and artistic visual maps- to uplift and integrate our understanding of our anatomy. And we are taking it personally! We are shifting the paradigm of anonymous, inaccurate anatomical images and painting our organs of origin from life.
We are calling in a team of models to research with Revel Body. Interested to collaborate? Fill out the form below.
Currently, most of the imagery used to teach sexual education is inaccurate and centers the able, white, binary, heteronormative identity. Even in medical textbooks, reproduction is the central conversation and many of the anatomical structures of arousal and pleasure are left out.
Three themes are weaving through the collection - pleasure, identity and healing. Within each theme we will paint seven anatomical portraits and tell the models’ personal stories that span the spectrum of gender, race, class and ability.
Pleasure- unpacking what holistic pleasure feels like and the cultural norms that distort humanity’s desire and ability to feel good.
Identity- the evolving story we tell of who we are that is shaped by memory, body, culture, and relationship.
Healing- embracing both the luminous victories and unresolved experiences of pain and challenge.
Project Goals
Co-create 22 portraits of the organs of origin painted from life and that share the story of the model who is a part of the research team.
Increase accessibility to accurate, affirming, sex positive story-based materials for learning about sexual healing, identity and pleasure.
Increase empathy and advocacy between genders
Demystify what is "normal" by sharing personal stories that have been labeled “abnormal” or “taboo”, which are actually common, shared experiences.
Offer engaging, sensual art and stories that speak to our healthy curiosity about anatomy, power, relationship, pleasure, pain, arousal, ability, gender, race and sexual preference.
Create accurate, beautiful anatomical art painted from life in a caring, consensual environment that includes a personal story from the model, who is a part of the research team
Research Team Invitation
How we engage with our organs of origin, our pleasure, our erotic, creative sense of self is one of the most controversial subjects of our time- a subject that impacts culture and human potential in extreme ways.
Our ability to learn and teach how to be safe, sovereign sexual beings and allow others to do so has been under attack world wide for centuries.
Our Anatomy is calling together a research team of artists and models to build the Revel Body Collection.
We are looking for researchers who have experience with somatics, consent and transformational justice practices.
We are currently fundraising to make this collection happen. If you are turned on by this possibility, please share with your networks. We are receiving tax deductible donations through our fiscal sponsor, New York Foundation for the Arts.
Interest Form
