About The Exhibition
Still Lovers by American photographer Elena Dorfman is a series of large format photographs depicting hyper-realistic sex dolls and their owners in various domestic settings.
The dolls are made of silicone hand-molded onto a steel skeleton. They are anatomically correct and can be used for sexual purposes. They are available in a range of female forms, with optional eye colour, face, hairstyle and body type. They are expensive, costing around £5,000 each.
Rather than emphasise the sexual function of the dolls, Dorfman is interested in the complex relationships that have formed between the owners and their dolls. In this series she photographs male and female doll-owners, with their dolls, in banal domestic situations watching television, at the kitchen table, in the garden. One doll owner fantasizes about marrying his doll, another holds the hand of his "date" as they watch television on the couch, and yet another owns several dolls that she shares with her family as a reflection of different aspects of her own sexuality and personality.
New Audio Descriptor Facility:
In order to demonstrate its commitment to improving accessibility, experimentation and partnership, Belfast Exposed Photography will showcase a new audio descriptor system in the context of the Still Lovers exhibition. Belfast Exposed Photography is pioneering the development of a radically new audio interpretative system for galleries and museums in partnership with the Sonic Arts Research Centre at Queens University, Belfast. Specifically designed for use by people with visual impairments but available to all gallery users, the system proposes to treat the gallery as a soundscape environment in which images exist in relationship to one another. Breaking with traditional more linear modes of audio description, this system will give visitors choices in how they view and interact with the exhibition - they can view the work entirely unmediated if they wish, or select different levels of interpretation from straightforward descriptions to complex sound environments. For more information about Belfast Exposed's new audio descriptor system please email: info@belfastexposed.org
The Artists
Elena Dorfman
Elena Dorfman currently lives and works in San Francisco, California. She is represented by the Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York. Her work will be exhibited at Paris Photo in November 2005. For more information about the artist please visit: http://www.elenadorfman.com