If ever there was a business made to be a pop-up, it’s the sex shop. Historically a discreet, even clandestine, sort of place, this particular sex shop is coming with as much noise as possible; it’s opening up during the Folkestone Fringe festival, before heading south on tour to London. The traditional adult store has strong ties to the saucy seaside resorts of Britain, but this isn’t the usual kind of place with the blacked out windows where you adventurous types go to buy your fetish gear. This is a more cultured version of the sex shop, where the toys on offer have been hand-made by a carefully selected group of artists, designers and other creative types.
In total, 48 open-minded contributors have answered the call from London artists and pop-up organisers Sarah Gillham, Jack Stokoe and Darren Nairn to come up with a prototype sex or fetish object. As you might expect, the responses to the flexible brief varied markedly, and the exhibits range from 3D objects to 2D graphics, video and audio work. Some submissions take their cue from historical or popular toys, while others are a much more abstract or personal in nature. You can see them in all their glory at the pop-up address – 5 Rendezvous Street, Folkestone – from 30 August to 4 October.
Suzanne Treister
Cathie Pilkington
Keith Farquhar
Évelie Mouila
Patrick Goddard
Joey Holder
