This Exhibition Explores How Science and Pornography Intersect, for Better or Worse
We got an exclusive look behind the scenes of Maja Malou Lyse’s film, set to be presented at the Venice Biennale.
This exhibition explores how science, fiction and pornography intersect in a response to research suggesting that exposure to virtual sexual stimuli can increase sperm motility. Images no longer just influence the imagination, but they also enter the biological domain. So, how can this type of imagery move from a realm of toxicity to a remedy?
The Danish Arts Foundation unveils Things To Come, an exhibition by Maja Malou Lyse, the youngest artist to represent Denmark at the Venice Biennale. Curated by Chus Martínez, this is a visionary work that engages with the widely documented global decline in male fertility. Things To Come considers the paradoxical role of contemporary media as both a toxin and an antidote, questioning how these systems shape futures.
The showcase treats the collapsing sperm count not just as a biological crisis but as a mirror of our broader civilization’s breakdown. With screen addiction, environmental degradation and the erosion of intimacy, we’re confronted with a society in which reproduction and relationships are rapidly changing.
The exhibition takes shape as a large-scale video installation with a sensorial and conceptual take where erotic imagery, scientific rationality and speculative narratives collapse into one another. In an era of AI-generated content and endless access to pornography, the exhibition notes state that “the film does not speculate on the future of sex so much as linger at its threshold: a final dance – an ode to porn stars and to a fragile idea of humanity quietly slipping from view.”
Together, artist and curator expand on Lyse’s ongoing exploration of how images affect the body and the world, impacting the future of humanity. We got an exclusive look behind the scenes of the film ahead of its showcase at this year’s Venice Biennale. Take a look at the impactful stills above.
Curator Chus Martínez shared, “AI-generated images no longer serve as evidence of anything, having been detached from their material origin. Imagine, then, the surprise of Maja Malou Lyse upon learning that the viewing of pornography through VR technology enhances male fertility by as much as 50%, as recent studies suggest. Fertility, futurity and pornography thus become deeply entangled.”
For more on art, these are the exhibitions to visit by female artists.
