SPANKBOX Projects

SPANKBOX is a photographic installation depicting individuals with varying disabilities from all communities in sexualized, hypersexualized poses and situations. We at SPANKBOX ask that the "for now" non-disabled community evaluate their preconceived notions regarding disability and sexuality. How do you perceive disability and sexuality? What standard do you hold us to? Do you view us as an asexual monolith? Do you see our bodies as objects to commodify and or fetishize? Do you celebrate the disabled body and all of its beauty?

Our mission at SPANKBOX is to provide a safe space where the community can self-educate by examining the disabled body and asking questions without shame. In return, we ask that you engage in conversation with us by answering one of the many questions provided by our participants (SPANKERS). By educating the community about disability and sexuality, we celebrate our identities as autonomous, dimensional individuals rather than sick, broken, and vulnerable. When a community has been identified as weak, that community will likely be preyed upon.

It is up to us, society as a whole, to engage in a conversation without pretense, ego, and hurt feelings. To effectively promote actual change, we have to have uncomfortable conversations. It's time for the disabled community to be seen for our abilities! We love, celebrate, work, empathize, motivate, and move forward through an intrepid landscape of social barriers that should not exist in today's time.

Why is SPANKBOX important?

The simplest and shortest answer to this question is REPRE

SENTATION IS IMPORTANT! Disability and sexuality are taboo and not widely or publicly discussed and explored. The disabled are often fetishized, infantilized, and stripped of their sexual autonomy. The lack of education on these subjects directly affects the number of sexual assaults against those with disabilities. People with disabilities are three times as likely to be physically abused or assaulted. As many as 40% of women with disabilities experience sexual assault or physical abuse, and 90% of all people with developmental disabilities will experience sexual assault (now.org). By placing disabled sexuality in the forefront, we allow those curious to self-educate and engage in an authentic and compelling conversation.

SPANKBOX and SATELLITE ART SHOW?

Held annually during Art Basel, SATELLITE has become a staple art fair of the most prominent art week in the world. Voted "Miami's Best Art Fair" by popular vote through Miami New Times.

This year SATELLITE invited SPANKBOX to premiere our project! Our inaugural 11 graced the walls of SPANKBOX and were paired with a performance by our curator, MADAME SPANK! The reception of SPANKBOX was a success! The community came out and participated! Individuals were engaged and interested in having a conversation, and genuine empathy toward a community that has been unseen and unheard for far too long was created. We could not have been prouder of our participants, the audience, and the project in general!

What is SPANKBOX asking of you?

SPANKBOX needs funding! We ask you to invest in an informative and groundbreaking exploration of disability and sexuality. Private grants, the Disability AWESOME Award, and community contributions funded our show at Satellite Art Fair. The project's installation needs funding until we receive a sizable grant that will allow us to install independently.

How will funds be used?

SPANKBOX will use all funds donated to install shows at requested and varying locations and cover traveling expenses for our curator and her caregiver.

What happens with the funds of images sold?

SPANKBOX will retain 10% to cover design, printing, and reframing expenses. 90% of the monetary value of each image will be given to the participant whose image has sold. Each participant establishes the price of their image to remind the viewer of the importance of disabled lives. If an image sells, SPANKBOX will reprint, reframe, and resell that image for the participant's established price. SPANKBOX does not seek to make money from selling a participant's image. Instead, our goal is to provide a surprise income ever so often to an underemployed demographic.