17c起草社区

WHEN Nik Dimopoulos recently took Trough, his gay dance party, to Sydney, it was harder than he expected to find guys willing to participate in the party鈥檚 infamous promotional videos.

The videos and their accompanying photographs have become a signature of the Melbourne-based party, now running for around a decade at local gay sex-on-premises venue (SOPV) Club 80. Each video features different guys with unusual props doing things to the objects and each other that range from the vaguely to the explicitly sexual.

鈥淚 find that Sydney has a quite obvious body culture, it鈥檚 an outdoor city,鈥� Dimopoulos said.

鈥淪o I thought it might have actually been easier, there might have been a lot more people comfortable in front of the camera, but I鈥檝e actually found the opposite.鈥�

Unable to find an appropriate SOPV to host it, the Sydney incarnation of Trough also ended up being a little more low-key, though still a success. Dimopoulos called it a 鈥渢aste鈥� of what the Melbourne party is like.

Being at Club 80 has been a big part of Trough鈥檚 identity since it began. At a time when more and more gay guys are finding sex online and through mobile apps, the venue jumped on board 鈥� getting a younger crowd through the door could be a way to arrest the slow death of gay SOPVs. That also connected to Dimopoulos鈥� goals for the party. Back when he approached Club 80 to get it off the ground, he was interested in an event that embraced sex without being confined to the usual crowd and aesthetics of the leather and fetish scene.

鈥淭raditionally, how fetish parties 鈥� which are very sex-orientated 鈥� have advertised, I鈥檝e always felt as if there鈥檚 been one, single-minded vision of fetish party advertising. It鈥檚 always black leather,鈥� he said.

鈥淸I wanted to] open those sex themes and concepts into something more broad, more colourful, more humorous.鈥�

While ultimately the photos and videos Dimopoulos makes for Trough are to advertise the party, they鈥檙e also art in and of themselves, and a big part of the event. The parties always include a visual element. Projections and installations bring the aesthetics into the space itself.

鈥淧eople can walk into a gallery and see work, or they can dance and have sex,鈥� he said.

The original concept for the campaigns grew out of Dimopoulos鈥� fascination with the famous 鈥渉anky code鈥� of 1970s gay communities. Different colours represented different sex acts and fetishes: black for BDSM, dark blue for anal sex, red for fisting, and so on. Once each initial 鈥渢heme鈥� was decided, Dimopoulos set about finding men to appear in the shoots, and not just those who fit the traditional fetish-scene image of the hyper-masculine muscle bear in Tom of Finland clothing.

鈥淚 started thinking about using a combination of [hyper-masculine guys] and just more everyday-looking guys… but still saying the same thing, in a way, or saying similar things: it鈥檚 a space to dance, have a party, but also we are very open to sex happening in the space,鈥� he said.

The videos have also gained a reputation for the risqu茅, one that has grown over time. Dimopoulos explained that the level of raunch is largely dependent on who鈥檚 in the scene. He鈥檇 have gone all the way from day one.

鈥淭his one that I鈥檓 shooting this week I think I鈥檝e got two people that are comfortable doing a masturbation scene, but they鈥檙e sort of half-covered as well,鈥� he said.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to go too pornographic 鈥� saying that, I鈥檓 interested in doing porn, but I don鈥檛 want to completely freak people out, because the party essentially is a dance party.鈥�

The kinds of guys appearing in the videos have changed over time as well. Back when he started, Dimopoulos admits part of what he was doing was capturing an aesthetic that went against how mainstream gay parties were being promoted.

鈥淏ack when I started, this was 2005, the whole beard thing was happening in Melbourne, and it really was an alternative aesthetic,鈥� he explained.

鈥淢ost of the guys I was photographing were scruffy, bearded, alternative-looking… I wasn鈥檛 being aggressive about it, but there was this slight reaction to what I was seeing: the muscle boys and the clean-cut.鈥�

However, as is the nature of counterculture, you keep going against the grain long enough and it becomes the new mainstream, which Dimopoulos fully admits.

鈥淭hese days that 鈥榤asc鈥� look has become almost the mainstream, in porn and even in DNA [magazine] the guys have a bit more hair featured, more stubble,鈥� he said.

鈥淲hat I鈥檓 actually trying to do now is go against that… I鈥檓 actually consciously saying, where do I find some clipped, blonde boys? It鈥檚 getting to that stage, where that鈥檚 actually the alternative.鈥�

The next Trough X party, TROUGH VIII, will take place from 5pm on Saturday, June 27 at Club80 in Collingwood, Melbourne. Tickets and details:

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**This was first published in the July edition of the 17c起草社区, which is . To obtain a physical copy, to find out where you can grab one in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and select regional/coastal areas.