Why We're Making A Show About Pornography?

‘The Coolidge Effect’ sees Wonder Fools embark on a process disseminating the science and theories around the mental health implications of pornography. Our aim is to create a performance that sparks an open and honest dialogue about sex and the internet.

Our research process has included studying theses and essays; working closely with academics; and watching lots of documentaries and TED talks. In addition, we have been talking to those who have been directly affected by pornography and the people close to them. These conversations, along with our research, are at the heart of ‘The Coolidge Effect’.

So far in the interviews we have conducted we have spoken to people across the world in: Quebec, California, Sweden, New York, Indonesia, Pittsburgh, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Manchester and London.

We understand that this project is completely different from our work thus far. But that’s why we are doing it.

We feel an urgency to start talking about pornography and mental health. With an informed sensitivity ‘The Coolidge Effect’ will address these issues at their core. Let us be clear, this project does not condemn pornography, nor does it wish to pass judgement – we only want to bring awareness to the issues involved and start talking about them.

Here’s a few facts that started us thinking:

· Every month people visit porn sites than Netflix, Amazon and Twitter combined (bit.ly/HuffPostStats)

· Every second 28, 258 users are watching pornography on the internet (http://bit.ly/HuffPostStats)

· The first exposure to pornography among men is 12 years old, on average (bit.ly/CovenantEyesStats)

·c40% of online pornography depicts violence against women (bit.ly/HGWdocu)

We’ll be blogging regularly throughout the process in the lead up to the first performance of ‘The Coolidge Effect’. The show will debut as part of Into The New Festival at the Pearce Institute, Govan, on the evenings of Tuesday 19th and Thursday 21st January.