Saturday May 10th - Sunday May 11th
3600 Lyons Road, Austin, Texas 78702



The Purpose Of a System Is What It Does (POSIWID) is a presentation of photography, video and installation by Odette Engle and Studio OVNI. 

The show is 21+ and contains very graphic media depicting extreme piercing, blood and consensual BDSM violence.

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Show text written by Ron Athey.

Odette Engle’s genital-works-for-dungeon-and-camera are sublime. I’m still digesting the surgical stapled on fully functioning zipper. I’ve been watching from various social media angles, but enthusiastic about the context this exhibition carves out. Pure beauty, ritual, and pathos! These are the Passions.

In body manipulation actions, there are two zones that crash the room: piercing/cutting the face and sexual organs. The room can dramatize their empathy (like when bros witness someone getting kicked in the nuts and double-over for affect). A close third would be extreme constricting/corseting/binding. This is balanced by hospital-worthy settings, and both hi-tech dungeon gear with DIY hardware. Surgical stapler mock castration (or hatchet pussy), anal penetration is mortification of the flesh. Chastity armor made with a hundred needles, urethra penetrated/phallic invert. The jewel box, two padlocks, a halo of hypo tips crowning like a porcupine.

Privately, sessions, especially the flesh/medical accoutrement sculptures, are horny, fantastical, experiential, transformations reassured by precise placement and body mechanics. Further emphasized by the trans-bodied subjects, and Publicly, Post-Porn. They own both the horror and erotics as perceived by the witness (as opposed to choir).

I could never continue my gratitude without quoting one my faves faves, and spot on. From Georges Bataille’s The Tomb of Louis XXX:

“Like the torture victim I have a picture of \\\\[the Chinese execution technique Lingchi - death by a thousand cuts\\\\], my eyes were, I think, turned around in their orbits, my head turned around, lips open. In that unexpected state, the memory of this photograph came to my mind without providing the habitual depression: a rush of horror, of light, brought me from the depths to the heights. Nothing exceeds the feeling inspired in me by torture more… again the image of torture shattered me. I fell to earth..”

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About the Artist

Odette Engle is a professional dominatrix, artist and film maker. POSIWID is a mid-career retrospective presents her collection of photography and films, as well as an interactive installation. AGES 21+

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Schedule

Gallery opening Saturday the 10th of May at 7pm.

Gallery open Sunday the 11th from 12pm to 4pm.

Artist talk Sunday at 2pm.

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Venue Details

This event will be indoors in an open air warehouse without climate control, please dress according to the weather. The temperature outside is the temperature inside. 

The Museum of Human Achievement (MoHA) has aging floors and a gravel parking lot. We recommend closed toe flat shoes, and an outfit that won't snag or get tripped on. We want you to have the best time while remaining safe and gorgeous.

Code of Conduct - https://moha.wiki/Code_of_Conduct 

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Accessibility and Health

MoHA is wheelchair accessible. Please reach out to info@themuseumofhumanachievement.com if you have any other accessibility needs and we will do our best to accommodate. 

To help keep our community safe and healthy, please do not attend if you feel ill or were recently exposed to illness, such as COVID and the flu.

Hand sanitizer and masks will be available. Masks are welcome!

Additional FAQs - https://moha.wiki/FAQ_%E2%86%92

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Travel & Parking Information

MoHA is located behind the Canopy Art Complex in a gravel parking lot. Guests can park for free in our lot and find free/paid street parking. 

Riding bikes? We are accessible for bikes via several trails that connect to Springdale Road.

Riding the bus? The two closest bus stops to MoHA are at the 7th/Springdale stop and the Springdale/Govalle stop. We recommend using Google maps or Cap Metro Trip planner to confirm your route.

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The Museum of Human Achievement (MoHA) is a community-driven non-profit organization in Austin, TX grounded in affordability, inclusivity and access for artists. MoHA’s vision is for an empowered, resilient creative community where each member has the resources to foster well being, prosperity, and a self-determined future.

MoHA runs a variety of programs in Community Abundance, Digital Arts, Exhibition, and Professional Development for artists, organizers, and audiences. Learn more at their website https://moha.wiki.