In an unlikely transfer, an OnlyFans account gained a Cannes Golden Lion PR award this yr. “Vienna Strips on OnlyFans” was created by the Vienna Vacationer board as a superb and subversive marketing campaign to spotlight the censorship of artwork on social media and promote “Vienna’s historic sexual liberty”. Following repeated deletion of historic artwork on Instagram, moderately than wrestle in opposition to the platform’s censorship of nude works and different “delicate” content material, the board embraced wit and steered artwork lovers and vacationers on to a platform made well-known by intercourse staff. The account, which provided free museum passes, racked up greater than 150 million visits.
The selection of OnlyFans was an apt one, since it’s, as an organization spokesperson says, “the most secure and most inclusive digital media platform welcoming creators from all genres and all around the world. In relation to artwork, creatives are capable of have true freedom of expression [here].” Nevertheless, regardless of the marketing campaign’s reputation and rising threats to inventive expression throughout the web, the artwork world has but to observe Vienna’s lead. So what’s stopping artists from turning to “the most secure and most inclusive” platform?
The quick reply is stigma. The UK-based over-18s platform OnlyFans hit its stride throughout pandemic lockdowns when performers and intercourse staff made it the powerhouse it’s right this moment. Regardless of internet hosting accounts for cooking, health, gardening, journey and extra, OnlyFans has not shaken its popularity for sexual content material—and nor ought to it, in line with standard erotic painter Armando Cabba. “It’s extremely vital that artists know who made the platform what it’s right this moment,” says Cabba. “Even exterior the digital area, artists have extra in widespread with intercourse staff”, with each typically being under-valued and exploited.
Current makes an attempt to ban illicit imagery on-line have resulted in wholesale censorship, “shadowbanning” (the place Instagram secretly hides posts from customers), and deplatforming of artists and intercourse staff throughout social media platforms. Discovering themselves more and more unwelcome, artists searching for alternate options will be left solely with the choice of becoming a member of areas designed for sexual content material or erotic artwork.
Canary within the coal mine
Annie Brown is the founding father of the social media platform Lips, and the inclusive on-line moderation system Reliabl. Lips, with 20,000 energetic month-to-month customers, was designed for artists of erotica, however Brown anticipates that as challenges develop for artists on-line, extra might be turning to such platforms. “I encourage artists to assist and align themselves with intercourse staff,” says Brown. “Intercourse staff are the canary within the coal mine,” she provides, saying that artists will quickly be pushed there, too.
In speaking with artists about OnlyFans, the stigma is obvious. They repeatedly categorical concern about not belonging on the platform, or a need to distinguish their artwork from sexual content material. However, as Cabba factors out, if these are your considerations, then “that you must mirror and unlearn quite a bit with regards to intercourse staff”. The historical past of artwork is filled with intercourse work and sexual content material, to not point out nudity, which is usually sexualised by society. It was no accident that the Vienna Vacationer Board pointed to its historical past of “sexual liberty” when creating its OnlyFans account, whereas on the similar time selling artwork appreciation.
Some artists who’ve taken the leap to the platform categorical reduction. Savannah Spirit, who opened her account after a lot consideration, says: “I truly really feel I’m in a safer setting. I don’t get hassled by strangers or by the algorithm threatening me each second. I be at liberty to submit my paintings with none worry.” A spokesperson for OnlyFans recognises that want, stating that it “gives artists a secure area to lawfully categorical themselves on-line and [it] means their followers can see their work with out unwarranted censorship”.
As OnlyFans encourages artists of every kind to hitch the platform, we could ultimately see extra than simply creators utilizing the positioning. Unit London gallery’s director Jonny Burt has sourced many artists from Instagram, the place he has witnessed artwork censorship. Burt expressed his assist for websites reminiscent of OnlyFans. “I will surely embrace any platform that places the dialogue and energy of inventive freedom again the place it belongs: within the palms of individuals, not algorithms,” he says.
Whereas no main museums or artists have adopted the Vienna Vacationer Board’s lead, it serves as an indication of the occasions and a lesson concerning the ties that bind artists and sexual liberty. As freedom of expression is more and more threatened on-line, what many artists see as a final resort may very well be the pure—and artwork traditionally condoned—method ahead.
