Messianic

English

Adjective

messianic (not comparable)

Positive messianic

Comparative not comparable
Superlative none (absolute)

1. Of, relating to, or resembling a messiah.


The new world we live in demands we believe in something, anything. It’s not that I believe in nothing, it’s that I don’t believe in your prescription. One hegemony begets another.

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
- W.B. Yeats, “The Second Coming”

Here I sit on a warm August Tuesday in Los Angeles, wondering what above all else comes next. I want the space to create, and I have it. As for so many folks everywhere, though, making enough money to stay afloat is the primal urge.
Juxtaposition.
Take a 300 and some odd feet square efficiency apartment, a mini-kitchen and a walk-in closet that leads to a smallish bathroom and what do you have? You have a limited play space to make an editorial statement. Noted, it might seem difficult to convey anything when you’re wearing a hood with an enclosed blindfold and attachable penis gag making it impossible to speak. Still, if you ask the model, she would prefer not to be released from her “disgrace.” “Disgrace” is in quotes, because words have meaning, often multiple meanings for me. “Disgrace” in this case doesn’t carry its usual negative connotation. In our world, to be in control is the epitome of success. A lack of control is unsavory. Flip it. Understanding that one has little to no control is the key to understanding one’s self. I am reminded of this from a play session I participated in at Bondage Ball in Hollywood July 4. Being restrained with a hood on my head while being flogged by a beautiful woman is Boyd at his happiest. Well, insomuch as when I want to suspend the pretense of control. I’m quite sure I could tick off a list of motivations for this and still come up lacking. For instance, each and every one of us wants to feel desirable. We all need to be loved in a way that validates us. We all need to be heard, and sometimes we wish we all could be silenced because of personal shortcomings. We all need to feel. Pain is so relative, and when we can experience it without becoming unhinged, we rejoice.
When I first started as a photographer, a world-renowned fetish photographer explained how I should treat each modeling session as a scene. In the process of explaining this to a model I shot with recently, she was actually concerned. My point to her was not that I desired to create an actual scene, but that power exchange play that isn’t editorial in nature or that doesn’t seek to capture the real finds itself lacking. These indoor games played out wherever I may be will always endeavor to achieve this.

“Messianic.” This is one of the words used to describe the age we live in post-911. It’s a word to describe the United States in how it relates to the rest of the world. We’ll save you from the evils of Islam, communism or whatever else that isn’t amenable to unbridled capitalism. Swap in terms like utilitarianism or humanism if you like. They are all modes of how we engage the world. It’s all about control, the taking or surrendering of. The election of President Obama was said to represent a change from this paradigm. He was going to save us from all of this. There’s irony here. We need a savior to save us from saviors? No matter what your politics may be, someone is convinced they need to save you from some ill. Post-911, we were told we were now living in the post-postmodern era. We were being saved from a worldview that suggested we might try to find some solace or joy in the process rather than in a solution that relies on the same failed methods and runs us in circles. My worldview isn’t cynical. My worldview pretty much says “let’s play.” From a faith-based perspective, it would be the equivalent of “make a joyful noise.” Do what thou will and enjoy it, because life is too damned short to be bound to societal prescriptions. The political is personal, and if a little pony play will set you free, have at it.

The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

I have little taglines I like to use on web sites like Model Mayhem, Facebook, and MySpace. “I can’t be good. They won’t let me.” “Gags for pretty gals.” “I tie your girlfriends up. They like it!” Being cheeky is where it’s at for me. I take myself seriously sometimes. I take the creative process seriously. I want to capture a moment in time with my art that is memorable, no matter what my editorial vision is. If I’m slapping tape on your mouth or am fitting it with a ball gag or tying you up in knots, how serious do you want me to be? I’ll be serious enough to gauge what your limits are and if kink is something you are remotely interested in. I’ll be serious enough to pay strict attention to your safety. But damn it, this should be fun, or why are we doing it? Being an adult is overrated, and I do prescribe to the Freudian convention that all art is play, a return to childhood. It’s just that our games are a lot more elaborate. Where does this put me in respect to everyone else in society? Mainstream folk get on their soapboxes and contextually abuse the DSM to marginalize those who play at BDSM. If we’re not mentally defective, we’re perverts with a capital “”. One philosophical persuasion will say the one while one will say the other. There’s your “audacity of hope.” There is none. Make your life a surrealistic expression. Create a world of your own and go there.