En Sacrificio Vivo

Galleta, Ganso, Gemido, Glitter, Goce, Guetto, Gusto

When talking to David, his face lights up as he utters the word *surrender*. The term is used in contexts ranging from warfare and law to mysticism and romance—and these options are not mutually exclusive. It has no single literal translation; depending on the context, it can be understood as giving up, yielding, or submitting. What is fascinating about the Spanish enclitic pronoun *-se* is its ability to reveal that the subject and the object of the action are one and the same person.

What is fascinating about surrendering, yielding, or submitting is that we understand it as an active decision to place oneself under another’s authority. We see this act of generosity in the drawings of men showing us their anuses, without inhibition or shame.

The anus as a site of desire—as a receiver rather than an excretor—is deeply problematic in our society. According to Javier Sáez and Sejo Carrascosa, male masculinity is constructed in a peculiar way: on one hand, by avoiding penetration at all costs, yet on the other, with a curious license to penetrate anything and everything. Meanwhile, Leo Bersani tells us that phallocentrism is not primarily about denying power to women, but above all about denying the value of powerlessness in both men and women… a more radical disintegration and humiliation of the self.

What kind of masculinity is David proposing through his images?
Play, intimacy, naivety, wonder, surrender, doubt, delicacy.

In other pieces, two handsome men appear, hovering around one another. They are deeply absorbed in each other—so much so that the background fades away. It reminds me of childhood moments when, through a shared bond with another child, playful realities were created with intimate logics entirely separate from the real world. Strangely, it didn’t have to be someone close to you; it was like those connections that emerge in adulthood with other men—cruising in a mall restroom or a parking lot at dusk. At a time when the most conservative forces are succeeding in rolling back many of the victories won by feminist and dissident movements, David’s work reminds us of the possibility of inhabiting the world through mystery, joy, and self-giving.

Iñaki Chávarri

Buscando mis amores,
iré por esos montes y riberas;
ni cogeré las flores,
ni temeré las fieras,
y pasaré los fuertes y fronteras.
San Juan de la Cruz