Your biography introduces you as a “self-described sex clown”. What’s a sex clown?
I coined the term ‘sex clown’ in the ’90s. With my hyper-gendered, technicoloured persona I’ve been disarming the imbalance of power in a sexual, camp and humourist way ever since! I indulge in using sexuality as a weapon for social change and commentary, holding a mirror up to society’s sexual malfunctions and embracing the power of what might be deemed grotesque. I’m inspired by the goddess of vulgarity, Baubo, who was eradicated from ‘history’ – laughter at sexual taboos with an aim to heal, create liberation and chaos.
What’s the concept behind The Glitta Supernova Experience and the new show, Let’s Get METAphysical?
I want to explore intimacy in the world’s most objectified profession, and by coincidence a profession I spent ten years of my life working – the idea that there is a person behind the body. I wanted to link to the power we all possess when we are free from the machine and brainwashing that has been indoctrinated upon us from our first breath. This show is about finding your power against all the odds and expressing your own unique value on the planet, regardless of what you’re labelled.
For anyone who hasn’t seen this style of alternative cabaret, what should they expect? Is it important to bring a sense of humour?
It’s a sex comedy! Expect a cocktail of polarities, yuck and yum – the absurd, crossing the line, camp hilarity with an intimate unfolding and personal story. It’s a front-row seat into the slippage from club culture into theatre, a beautiful fusion of high and low art into a single mash of colour and revolution.
How has Australia’s appetite for fun changed over the years?
Right now ‘in is the new out’, or so the machine tells us. The ’80s, ’90s and early 2000s didn’t have the fear and distraction – experiencing the moment far surpassed the need to document every action with selfies. No lockouts, no insurance and the drugs were amazing! It was transcendental. No-one cared what all the freaks were doing in the back rooms, there was nudity and live sex not only on the stages but happening right on the dancefloors; extreme acts of exhibitionism in the pursuit of personal liberation. Conservatism has taken hold – censorship and control within not just the arts but humanity. But it is all cyclic and I want to believe a backlash will happen, when we will agitate and liberate. Freaks on the front line will find a way to shake it up again and make new pathways.
[Glitta Supernova photo by Cat’O’Nine Tails Photography]
The Glitta Supernova Experience – Let’s Get METAphysical happens at theGiant Dwarf, Friday February 19 and Saturday February 20.
