First published in 2015 by IMC / Eroto~ Contact: [email protected] Produced by IMC / Eroto~ Designed by R.C. Hörsch Photographs and title graphic by R.C. Hörsch Edited by S.E. Stokowski All images and entire contents © 2015 by R.C. Hörsch and IMC / Eroto~ All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system nor transmitted in any form nor by any means whatsoever without prior consent. The asterisk in the title image is based on Kurt Vonegut’s “Asshole” drawing first published in Breakfast of Champions, Delacorte Press (1973). Reproduced with permission. “Shit Patois” by Tom Wolfe is from I am Charlotte Simmons, Picador, 2004. Reproduced with permission. The complete body of R.C. Hörsch.’s work can be viewed at: eroto.com This volume is part of a limited, signed and numbered edition of two thousand five hundred copies. This is ccopy _________________. ___________________________________ Certified by: S.E. Stokowski, publisher “Naomi’s Netherworld” Contents Images Commentary 3 “Naomi’s Netherworld” 6 The Final Taboo: Assholes as Art (Ariel Hart) 5 ”Rectoscopy” 8 Brain Farts (S.E. Stokowski) 7 “Flower” 12 An Erogenous Zone Reborn (Betty Ann Dodson) 9 “Worship Me” 18 The Very First Time... (Samantha Sweet) 11 “Xyla and Friend” “Sarah” 20 Ass To Mouth (Saundra Kurtz) 13 “Sarah” 24 The Rectum (Mark Epstein, MD) 15 “Pheromones” 26 Shit Patois (Tom Wolfe) 17 “Malady’s Heart” 28 My Asshole (Lucy) 19 “Gabriella’s Blue Moon” 30 How to Get on Top By Using Your Bottom (Catherine Tavel) 21 “42” 40 Eden’s Ass (Tomas S. Roche) 23 “Dessert” 48 Training Day (S.W. Mathewson) 25 “Dark Chocolate” 50 Assholes (R.C. Hörsch) 27 “Silk Panties” 58 Brain Farts Continued... (S.E. Stokowski) 29 “Charlotte’” 60 Contributors 31 “Ariana” 33 “Natalie” 35 “China and Annette” 37 “Svyatoslava” 39 “Corinne’” 41 “Mania” 43 “Muses” 45 “Lyssa” 47 “Two Old Men” 49 “Gladiator” 51 “Tammy” 53 “Rachel” 55 “Jody” 57 “Samantha” 59 “Nancy” 61 “Portrait of the Artist” ”Rectoscopy” The Final Taboo: Assholes as Art Observation by Ariel Hart The anus’s time is ripe. There, I said it. The long-forbidden vaginae have had more than their fifteen minutes of fame, artistically speaking. There have been a number of photo- graphic studies like I’ll Show You Mine, 101 Vagina and The Big Book of Pussy, depicting women’s private parts up close and personal. And guess what? It turns out, they’re not so scary after all; they’re beautiful, fleshy Georgia O’Keeffe flowers, each one as different as a fingerprint or a snowflake. But flashback to 1866. It all began with Courbet’s “L’Origine du Monde,” unveiling, perhaps the first “wide open beaver” in art. Due to Courbet’s great skill and refined color scheme, most critics agree that the painting narrowly escapes being pornographic yet others are troubled its voyeuristic implications. Almost 150 years later, many still find Courbet’s image startling. It’s like that for the asshole in art today. Artist/author/sex educator Betty Dodson put vaginas on the map, so to speak. Her 1974 book Liberating Masturbation was followed with her groundbreaking masturbation manifesto Sex for One: The Joy of Selfloving (1987). With vaginas tackled, Dodson has joined forces with photographer R.C. Hörsch to take on the asshole. Yes, now it’s the time of the area bounded by the anal sphincter. As Hörsch so aptly phrased it, “Asshole is the new pussy!” Like vaginas, assholes are necessary for our survival. Without one, we’d die, drowning in our own poison. But why are they so scary? Why are they still taboo? Why has no one dared depict them artistically, until now? Let’s be honest, if a photographer did a visual study of another orifice, like mouths or nostrils, for example, it wouldn’t be such a big deal. It would probably be ignored. But present a book of tastefully photographed bungholes and no publisher will touch it. Distributors shy away. Even with a blank cover. Yet, assholes are everywhere. In his 1973 novel Breakfast of Champi- ons, Kurt Vonnegut included a drawing of an asshole—a cute, crude asterisk. Artist Allison Sciulla, reports that her best-selling piece depicts butt-licking. The images here are no less gorgeous and important than Mappletho- rpe’s, which succeeded in elevating fisting to an art form. Today, his works grace museums across the globe. Now it’s Dodson and Hörsch’s turn. The words accompanying the images are just as diverse as they are controversial: a microbiologist’s treatise on fecal microbes, lusty backdoor memories, a porn-set recol- lection, a cautionary tale, Tom Wolfe’s musings… Assholes as sex organs? Objects of beauty and desire? Objects of worship? You decide. Dodson and Hörsch feel it’s high time to celebrate the beauty of the asshole in images and words. Starting now. Turn the page... 6 “Flower” Brain Farts Musings by S.E. Stokowski Penises... dispense waste fluid and half of the equation of life itself. Through the same tube. From the same opening. They are organs of pleasure. Sometimes great pleasure. However, they are regarded as filthy and obscene and must always be covered and obscured. They should never be acknowledged or discussed. Especially in front of children or women. They are not a fit object for prose or poetry or artistic investigation. They are what they are. Vaginas... the wonderous cavity behind the vulva through which babies exit the womb and adjacent the urethra that dispenses waste fluid. It is the gateway to the womb where sperm and ova, the wonderous components of life are nurtured and grown. They are also organs of great pleasure. But they, too, are regarded as filthy and obscene. and must always be covered and obscured. They, too, should never be acknowledged or discussed. They are not a fit object for prose or poetry or artistic investigation. They are what they are. Assholes... dispense solid waste and have no other biological function. No redeeming qualities although most mammals find creative ways to utilize them for pleasure. Even more than penises and vaganias, they are regarded filthy and obscene and must always be covered and obscured. They, too, should never be acknowledged or discussed. They, too, are not a fit object for prose or poetry or artistic investigation. They are what they are. This is a book of photographs... centered on the area of human anatomy bounded by the anal sphincter or asshole. All are by photographer R.C. Hörsch and were shot over a period of almost thirty years. Some are abstract, some are explicit and some are grotesquely explicit. None obscure their subject matter in fuzzy 8 “Worship Me” metaphor. Some are in color and some are in more “artistic” monochrome. Some depict sexual activity that is a felony in many places. A few may even rise to the level of fine art. They are what they are. * * * * * Here’s a thought... your reaction to these images likely says more about you than it does about the images themselves. Are you titillated? Shocked? Disgusted? Aroused? Is your interest (if any) clinical? Artistic? Prurient? Are you in the mainstream of Western society that views the human body as somehow dirty, shameful and disgusting? Do you believe that the mechanics surrounding the creation of life are not fit for poetry or prose or artistic exploration? Do you simultaneously believe, for example, that your god created humans in his own image but that the unadorned result of that creation is shameful and obscene? Are you sophomoric, one-dimensional and childish in your view of sex and sexual images and representations? Or are you sophisti- cated and blasé? Do you see beauty in these images? Whatever. But somehow, I would be very surprised to find that you are bored. * * * * * So be shocked or enlightened. Praise or condemn. Tolerate or destroy. See beauty or filth. Be aroused or disgusted. And if you masturbate, try not to get the pages stuck together. You are what you are. 10 “Xyla and Friend” An Erogenous Zone Reborn By Betty Ann Dodson I’ll be the first to admit my life has been extraordinary but also difficult. Nothing that’s really important is ever that simple and there’s a price to pay for breaking society’s iron clad rules of propriety. My first transgression was to dare bring up the importance of a sexual practice for adults that most pretended they never do— masturbate. Well, perhaps masturbation was accepted for little kids who hadn’t been properly taught not to touch themselves “down there.” In the process of liberating masturbation I included drawings of vulvas to help women accept this important part of their bodies, the seat of female power as women birth the next generation. Now FINALLY we have the opportunity to see and enjoy the vast range, variety and beauty of our last hidden body part— the anus. Owning and enjoying our assholes instead of demeaning a person by calling them one, will surely help bring a few peaceful feelings to mankind that are badly needed. Imagine the word becoming a term of endearment; “You Darling Asshole!” Finally recognizing and honoring this debased body part that we all have in common and could never live without; hopefully it will also improve people’s sexuality or at least add some sociability to benefit repressed Americans. Even Jesus had an asshole as did all the other wise prophets along with goddesses who once ruled. Let this be the age when we liberate Assholes to improve our health, happiness and sexuality.