Hysterical Literature: The making of...

So, we're not going to lie. We were so fascinated by Clayton Cubitt's erotic fusion of high and low art in his Hysterical Literature series that we featured earlier.

So we did some further... Let's call it "research". If you're familiar with the art form, Hysterical Literature is a series of movies of female performers reading from a novel of their choice while being simultaneously brought to orgasm. The reading is artfully shot in black and white, the make-up simple but sexy, and the styling demure and understated.

The performers all have a strong, edgy sensuality, and the whole is something quite new in the field by Mr Cubitt, who is also a cutting-edge fashion photographer.

It makes for stimulating viewing like you've never seen. But what about the actual logistics, we wondered. How do these ladies actual "get off", as it were?

Then we stumbled across this blog by Stoya, one of the performers. In her first-person account, she relives her experience in prose every bit as evocative as the performance itself. And that is almost flammable in its awesomeness.

It seems there is a female photographer's assistant crouched under the reading desk applying a Hitachi Magic Wand-brand vibrator – the vibrator of choice for adult entertainers – to the lady parts of the performer.

The end result is something quite spectacular, in a literary kind of way. Here it is again. The novel is Necrophilia Variations by Supervert.

Hysterical literature: Stoya [NSFW]

We've not seen high and low culture combined as effectively as in Clayton Cubitt's Hysterical Literature series. We're not altogether sure what the logistics are behind this performance, but watch and you'll get the idea. Squeamish people be warned: it involves orgasms.

One of the sexiest things you'll see on the internet right now, and that's saying something. (Yes, even sexier than the latest Die Antwoord video.)

This is the first session of a series, which you'll no doubt go google after this. Stoya reads Necrophilia Variations by Supervert.




For the record, Clayton is an artist of uncommon ability. He has a portfolio of his work on his tumblr site here . There's some great, fairly edgy fashion work, and a powerful Hurricane Katrina feature too.