Sex toys are objects and aids used by people during sex – when alone, with one or more partners. Although sexual toys and aids are so widely used in modern living that there is even a whole industry for their production and distribution, they are still taboo topics in many countries around the world, and even prohibited for sale and use in some conservative environments. This is probably due to the fact that the use of sexual toys is a form of alternative sexuality, that is, sexuality that is not natural and in which objects are also involved, besides people. Of course, it is an alternative for conservatively educated people and those who decide to stick firmly to certain religious and philosophical doctrines that prohibit the use of sexual aids. Why are sex toys used? They are objects and aids used for sexual satisfaction, and contrary to the belief that they are most often used by women for self-pleasure, there are sex toys for all types of sex – masturbation, straight sex between two or more partners, gay sex between two or more partners, group sex, and sadomasochistic sex. Generally, people are quite shy when it comes to sex toys and sex shops, because of the prejudices in society and the environment in which they live, so not only do they avoid using them, but they also feel embarrassed to enter a sex shop. This is because people who are open about their sexuality and the way they manifest it are still largely stigmatized as perverted, improper, bad, promiscuous, and uncultured. Of course, if people in a community start openly discussing sexual toys and aids, certain stereotypes about alternative forms of sexuality and the people who practice them can be broken down. The Sex Shop project represents an idea of an equal situation in which the audience that comes to the gallery has the opportunity to see part of a collection of the most commonly used sex toys and to be forced to think about the issues mentioned earlier. This project is an attempt to recontextualize sex toys as objects of modern living by exhibiting them in an art institution, or in a neutral environment where people can more easily overcome the shame and discomfort that often accompany visits to sex shops.

Darko Aleksovski