Spornography

Spornography is a project exploring the influence of pornography on our society. Sporno deconstructs the pornification of female athletes.The project employs Stuart Hall's representation theory to delve into the original meaning of the footage. According to the representation technique by Stuart Hall, meaning is constituted by representation; by what is present, what is absent, and what is different. A representation implicates the audience in creating its meaning. Power through ideology or stereotyping tries to fix the meaning of a representation in a 'preferred meaning.’ Sports is a male domain, all about masculinity, athleticism, and strength. Females are still portrayed as overly feminine because we live in a heteronormative society; the “preferred” meaning is a woman with overly feminine qualities. Because “sex sells,” brands use the image of sex to sell products. Since pornography became the truth about sex, the same visual language is used. Due to midriff advertisements, the naked sexualized body became the most essential feminine quality. Cropping is a technique that the media uses to frame what they think is the 'preferred meaning.’ Spornographication uses this method to frame the phenomenon. Therefore, the series, audio and videoclip are both cropped on parts that are sexually intended. 

Spornography

Spornography is a project exploring the influence of pornography on our society. Sporno deconstructs the pornification of female athletes.The project employs Stuart Hall's representation theory to delve into the original meaning of the footage. According to the representation technique by Stuart Hall, meaning is constituted by representation; by what is present, what is absent, and what is different. A representation implicates the audience in creating its meaning. Power through ideology or stereotyping tries to fix the meaning of a representation in a 'preferred meaning.’ Sports is a male domain, all about masculinity, athleticism, and strength. Females are still portrayed as overly feminine because we live in a heteronormative society; the “preferred” meaning is a woman with overly feminine qualities. Because “sex sells,” brands use the image of sex to sell products. Since pornography became the truth about sex, the same visual language is used. Due to midriff advertisements, the naked sexualized body became the most essential feminine quality. Cropping is a technique that the media uses to frame what they think is the 'preferred meaning.’ Spornographication uses this method to frame the phenomenon. Therefore, the series, audio and videoclip are both cropped on parts that are sexually intended. 

photoseries. 

edited from professional sports games.

The official Sporno anthem.

Edited from professional sports games.

The official Sporno anthem. 

edited from professional sports games.

The official Sporno anthem.

Edited from professional sports games.

The official Sporno track edited by Danny van der Lugt.

Cropping is a technique that the media uses to frame what they think is the 'preferred meaning.’ I used this method to frame the phenomenon. Therefore, the photoseries and parody are both cropped on parts that are sexually intended. The audio in the Sporno toy is also made with the cropping technique but exaggerated. 

The official Sporno track edited by Danny van der Lugt.

Sporno music video. 

edited from professional sports games.

The official Sporno anthem.

Edited from professional sports games.

 The Videoclip "Satisfaction" by Benny Benassi is widely recognized, featuring sexualized women in a "construction site" setting. In order to highlight a similar phenomenon in sports, a parody was created using female athletes. The video fragments are cropped in the same way as the images and audio.  At the same time, the video fragments look the same as in the book: “ De volmaakte vrouw,” where images and videos of women, who are scantily dressed, are doing sports exercises that are intended for sex efficiency.

Who doesn't know the Videoclip satisfaction by Benny Benassi where you see sexualized women working on a “construction site”. To show that this phenomenon also occurs in sports, I made a parody of this video clip using female athletes. I cropped existing video fragments in the same way as I did with the images and audio. At the same time, the video fragments look the same as in the book: “ De volmaakte vrouw,” where images and videos of women, who are scantily dressed, are doing sports exercises that are intended for sex efficiency.