A 19-year-old gay student is planning to lose his virginity in a gallery full of spectators for an art project he’s calling: “Art School Stole My Virginity.” The deflowering of Clayton Pettet is scheduled to take place January 25 in Hackney, London in front of an audience of between 50 to 100.
Clayton will reportedly engage in safe sex with a friend until completion, after which he will ask the audience questions related to his performance. He hopes to earn accolades for challenging the idea of sexuality.
Clayton, who is a second-year student at Central Saint Martins art school in London, has been planning the event for three years, said: “The key thing about performance art is that it should only be performed once, and this is the ultimate once-in-a-lifetime performance. I‘ve held on to my virginity for 19 years, and I’m not throwing it away lightly. Basically it’s like I am losing the stigma around virginity.”
He added, “I want the audience to see if anything has changed between me and my partner. Since culturally we do hold quite a lot of value to the idea of virginity I have decided to use mine and the loss of it to create a piece that I think will stimulate interesting debate and questions regarding the subject.”
But some gay campaigners have major issues with Clayton’s decision to lose his virginity in public, claiming the stunt cheapens the special relationship of sex between loving partners.
Rev Sharon Ferguson, a spokesperson for the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement, said: “I’m not quite sure how that’s art. My view is that we believe that all sexuality is a gift from God. It’s about what you do with it and how we use it is an expression of our love for God. For my imagining in sex as an art form, I don’t think this falls into that category. My issue is around is this the right expression of someone’s bodily sexuality? As an art project in front of an audience, where is the love, respect and mutuality in that?”
Stated on the Central Saint Martins Art School website are the words: Be Brave and Do What You Love!
Well…I mean…okay…
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