Window Dressing
Flat on my back in the display case –
Elbow-deep in petticoats
Flying blind for all that
Her partner has my ear
Pinned with her high heel
I've got all her weight now
O, Criminy! Don't tear her pantyhose!
Took her fluffers half a day
To get her in this state
They'll kill me if they
Have to start from scratch
Director nods and lights are thrown
Where is that hole?
It's in... you twist... she stands!
Her torso bayonetted
She turns as if to flee
I slither out feet first and
Make room for the money shot
Is this pornography? Well, probably not, since Robert is an art handler and this poem seems to be a bit of occupational autobiography. An art handler, or art preparator, is a trained individual who works directly with objects in museums, art galleries, corporate or private art, etc., in coordination with registrars, collection managers, conservator-restorers, exhibition designers, and curators, as well as art storage facilities or art shipping companies, to ensure that objects are safely handled and cared for. Often they are responsible for packing and unpacking art, installing and deinstalling art in exhibitions, and moving art around the museum and storage spaces. Another key role is the preparation of objects for display in galleries. This may include sending objects out for conservation, framing and mounting objects, and labeling them; sometimes it includes working with the exhibition team to prepare the gallery spaces for the objects. They are often responsible for photographing objects and writing condition reports, monitoring environmental conditions, and practicing preventative conservation in art storage spaces.
ReplyDeleteSo, we've prevented one more needless and unfounded scandal.
Or have we?
For, it seems, a fluffer is a member of the make-up staff who is responsible for keeping a male adult film star aroused on the set. The director sets up the desired shooting angle, then asks the actors to hold their position and calls for them to be "fluffed" for the shot. Although fluffing does not necessarily involve physical touching, it may entail fellatio or non-penetrative sex. A "money shot" is the most important element in the porn film, for which everything else may be sacrificed if necessary. It may well be the filmed moment that the audience has paid to see. Producers have been known to pay the male actors extra for it. (In other words, it is the ejaculation scene, the so-called "cum shot.")
But even so, the issue of pornographic intent remains unclear. In perhaps related usages, "fluffer" refers to various jobs and roles: In the real estate industry a "fluffer" stages homes for presentaion to prospective buyers; is a public relations "spinner;" in Australia, is a start-up company's director or founder; is a maid who fluffs pillows or, in general, cleans and prepares work equipment; and, on the London Underground, is someone (traditionally a woman) who cleans the tracks in the tunnels at night, during Engineering Hours, when the trains have stopped running and the electricity is switched off. And a "money shot" is the visual element of a film, video, TV broadcast, or print publication that is either disproportionately expensive to produce and/or is perceived as essential to the overall importance or revenue-generating potential of the work itself, generally of a provocative, sensational, or memorable nature. On TV talk shows, the money shot is a highly emotional scene, expressed in visible bodily terms, such as tearful confession or a dramatic retelling of some traumatic experience. In broadcast journalism it is a picture that grabs and holds viewer attention, including footage of a notable event such as an earthquake, tornado, or explosion, or of a person in an unusual, noteworthy, tragic, embarrassing, or incriminating situation. In print publications, it is a photograph that drives an important percentage of sales, such as a shot of a celebrity in an unusual situation that was not specifically intended to be photographed, giving rise to paparazzo journalism. In surveillance, the money shot is footage of a perpetrator committing a criminal act on camera.
After all, as a figure of speech, "window dressing" is something done to make a better impression, sometimes implying something dishonest or deceptive.
So, YOU decide!