Guillaume Dustan, Stronger Than Me
« Ever since I've been positive I've seen myself as a loaded gun. Sperm replaced the bullets. With it I had power, like guys attacking banks with syringes. The first time was a skinny blond. I took him from behind. I got soft. Shame. I pulled out. I jerked off. I couldn't get hard again. I pulled the condom off. I jerked off thinking about what I could do. I pushed back in, no condom. I ended up going soft again because I was thinking too much. I pulled out again. I finished myself off by hand, plenty of guys do that. He didn't see anything. I was the only one who knew. […] And then I thought that I was going to hell. That I was lost. »
Gooning in a world provoking constant fear, traumas and anxiety is experiencing trance states of consciousness where pleasure becomes the only possible alternative. To goon, in a brutal present proposes eroticism and pleasure as emancipatory.
Back in 2023, I was diagnosed with testicular cancer at 28 years old. This life-changing event forced me to look closer at the way I envision sexual desire, how I perceive my genitals, and how I experience my gender identity. Nowadays, going through a healing process, I want to explore carnal sensuality as an act of resistance and empowerment. GOON is an attempt at letting go of the shame that surrounds (my) queer sexuality.
Gooning may be most simply defined as that state usually achieved after a prolonged edging session (edging is a method of stretching out how long it takes to reach orgasm), when an individual becomes completely hypnotised by the feeling radiating from their genitals. As the individual keeps edging and thus keeps experiencing intense delight, they enter a state of trance where their body mind intimately merges with their body part. When this state is achieved (resembling a form of self-hypnosis), the person becomes freed of social codes of conduct, and their arousal, alone, dictates their reactions. As a result, a gooned out person will become very expressive and demonstrative: they may become very vocal, while their body and face might take on undignified expressions and poses, all in response to the intensely exquisite caresses their erogenous zone is exposed to. Hence the term "goon", since at this point the person effectively looks silly, foolish.
Gooning is predominantly practiced in front of a camera while watching pornographic content. The authenticity of the reactions triggered by this type of personal gratification lies at the core of my research and the way gooning is performed. In GOON, I aim to navigate between simulated states of pleasure, genuine somatic sensations, and the absurdity of exaggeration.
Gooning is generally perceived as a self-centered masculine experience, practiced within an online community. My interest goes beyond gender labels and genitalia. I seek to create a space where performers and audiences can goon through breathing, dancing, watching, etc., expanding the very definition of gooning and focusing on a pursuit of euphoria. Through this vision, gooning distances itself from masturbation, instead embracing meditative states of pleasure that transport us toward another version of reality—one that feels livable.
Larry Mitchell, Introduction by Tourmaline, The faggots and their friends between revolutions.
« It took me a long time to come back to the power and magic of image, art, fashion, aesthetics, and not least of all GLAMOUR. The faggots helped me find my way back. The faggots reminded me that superficiality, style, messiness, and play are not bad things, they are transformative ways of being. Our glamour is not superfluous to changing the current order, it is instrumental. Our glamour, our joy, our magic, are not commodities to be ripped off and sold back to us by corporations, they are ours. When they try to steal our essence, we slip away like snakes and leave them only the shedded skin. »
