These glitch images come from amateur gay porn movies that were uploaded onto various sites that encourage such behavior. (Because of prospective "terms and conditions" violations, I'll refrain from naming them specifically, but I am sure one can discern a few examples rather easily.) They are not videos of me - and I say this only because I've been asked. In the initial uploading and subsequent downloading process of these videos by their producers and users, glitches occur and thus produce an abstract representation of the acts taking place.
For me, the interest lies in that unintended abstraction. For one, there is the relationship the internet plays in the dating and sexual lives of gay men of this age. The internet perpetuates almost all areas of race and class, and in fact, in some cases it may be the sole connection to others like oneself that some can find. Combined with this is the notion of what the gay pornography industry provides to modern gay culture. I would venture to guess that a good percentage of budding gay men learn about sex through viewing porn, for better or worse. However, there is a constant disconnect between these realities, and amateur videos then find their way up on the web, not only among the US or European populations, but often among various minority populations as well - including countries where physical harm can be expected if outing occurs. Thus there is a cycle that takes place that abstracts sexuality, not only visually, but in form and context for many gay men that then gets repeated and propagated unto itself. The glitch becomes a metaphor for an already existing closet.
Furthermore, through this glitch process, there is an act that takes place of furthering the erasure of gay sex - even through the promotion of it with "real life" footage uploaded online. This lies in strict contrast to the gay rights movement, not only of simulation into a heteronormative model, but also to the very fact that gay sex, and specifically sodomy, is still outlawed and punishable not only in some areas of the US, but also in various areas globally - in the regions where some so often post these videos in the first place. Such the cyclical notion of exhibition is displayed, all the while having technology censor it to a certain degree. Yes, it is in the nature of these things for allowances for that to happen. But it's the representation of that nature through this abstraction that interests me.
