As a part of our maudern people series, we asked New York-based creative Clémence Polès for insights on modern intimacy. She is the founder of both content site Passerbuys and film festival FFFest.
With social distancing & quarantine, how has human contact changed?
I've taken social distancing pretty seriously and haven't seen anyone outside of essential workers and pedestrians around my block. I'm weirdly conflicted between enjoying the lack of human contact and craving it desperately. The longer the quarantine, the more I find myself binging on erotic forward filmographies—taking a voyeuristic approach to intimacy.
I've never thought of intimacy as something I needed to make time for—it comes pretty naturally to me.
How do you make time for intimacy?
I've never thought of intimacy as something I needed to make time for—it comes pretty naturally to me. I feel intimacy is always evolving—most recently I've started curating porn for a developing project called x-archives.
How has your perspective on your home/space changed?
I've been reflecting a lot on what makes a home as I move into a smaller apartment with more things than I can fit. Is it my stacks of childhood photo albums? My grandfather's books? My obnoxiously big TV that eats up my entire space? Is home a space to display your identity or is it simply a state of mind, perhaps another person? I feel like home has always been a space for me to shield myself from the outside world—escapism through films, books, and sleep. With that said, the quarantine has definitely made escapism different as I no longer have the contrast of engaging with the physical world.
What is a new activity you are planning to try?
Creating a new home in a new space, with a little help from The Feminine Fix-It Handbook: Everything you need to know to do it yourself.
How will you keep busy?
FFFest and x-archives is keeping me plenty busy :)
What is a movie you will definitely watch?
In response to social-distancing, FFFest launched a weekly Streaming in Isolation newsletter highlighting 7 of our favorite films made by women to stream throughout the week. So with that, my watchlist has been pretty extensive—tonight I'm looking forward to watching Marguerite Duras' India Song.
