Artist’s ‘Fuck Buttons’ Explore the Various Forms of Sex in the 21st Century
Despite the variety of shapes and forms that sexual expression takes on in the 21st century, Vietnamese artist Uudam Nguyen inspires fresh fantasies with his mass-produced Fuck Buttons. These provocative and multi-themed pins were recently amassed in an installation that was a part of the 21st Century Sex exhibit at the Bleicher Gallery in Los Angeles till August 11, the components of which Nguyen often distributes individually in subways, bars, parties, museums, parades, festivals, and on college campuses.
Created in 2004, they’re still finding new fans, who are nothing short of amused by the endless phrases that decorate the colorful plastic surfaces — “Honey, tonight I will fuck you as a Democrat turned Republican,” “Honey, tonight I will fuck you as a Sexy Olympian,” or “Honey, tonight I will fuck you as a multi-linguist and multi-orgasmist.”
And according to Nguyen, there’s something for everyone. “You basically can open a book, an encyclopedia, and just replace the part after as. Like: Honey, tonight I will fuck you as… and it could be anything at the end,” Nguyen says.
In the installation, rows upon rows of fuck buttons lined the walls from ceiling to floor. A robotic female voice read the messages aloud — heard through headphones suspended from the ceiling.
Not remotely sexual, the tone of the piece remains shrouded in ambiguity, just like the word “fuck” — on one hand, an expression of violent intention, and on the opposite extreme, of great passion.
“It probably makes people feel sexy,” Nguyen says. “Or it makes people feel strong. Or it makes people feel empowered, you know.”
In 2003, Nguyen explored issues of power and sexuality through the lenses of nationalism in his World Condom Project. Painting male and female condoms with the flags of various nations, he gives nationalistic pride entry into the most intimate sphere — pieces he intends to one day sell at the Olympic Games.
He discusses the intersection between power and sexuality through the lenses of gender identity and nationalism in his works, The Fuck Buttons and The World Condom Project.
