What Do You Prefer?

Looking at the woman in front of her, Katelyn began to wonder if this whole thing was as good an idea as it had seemed when she and Theresa first planned it. While she was a full semester into her Fine Arts degree, her focus was in drawing and painting, not performance art. Her Midwestern background had not prepared her for what she was facing in attending her first big city performance art piece. Coming here hadn't even been her idea. Theresa, her roommate, had somehow heard about this from a friend of a friend, and convinced Katelyn that she should come to support her fellow artists.

"It's all about post-modern feminism, and the objectification of women in art and society," Theresa had told her.

Well Katelyn was all for feminism, was okay with post-modernism (although she was really more of a romantic herself), and thought that confronting objectification of women seemed like a good idea, so she had relented and come along to this obscure gallery in a bohemian part of the city. Of course Theresa had immediately spotted some guy she thought was cute and so now Katelyn was standing there alone, faced with her first piece of performance art.

"Confronting the objectification of women my ass," Katelyn muttered under her breath.

Katelyn stood and stared in shock at the display in front of her. The sign on the wall titled the piece "On a Pedestal." There was a white marble pedestal in the corner, and on top of the pedestal was a naked woman. Not a statue of a naked woman, a naked woman. A real live breathing absolutely totally naked woman. Just kneeling there, with her hands behind her head, her torso rotated slightly and her chest thrust out to emphasize her breasts. She stared off into the distance, and made no attempt to interact with the couple of other people there. She was up on that pedestal just to be gazed upon. Katelyn had to admit the model was a beautiful woman and that in other circumstances she would love to sketch the nude, but obviously that wasn't the point of the performance.

Not that Katelyn could see what the point was. It seemed more like it was endorsing the objectification of women than anything else. Or maybe it was just porn. Katelyn sipped her glass of champagne and looked around at others gazing at the girl on the pedestal. It was just a couple of guys, and while they weren't technically leering, they were clearly entranced by the naked model. Katelyn viewed herself as a fairly attractive woman but she found herself having some twinges of inadequacy, standing there in her jeans and cotton blouse, with her trim, athletic, but not terribly curvy figure. It was hard not to feel a little inferior as the guys stared at the buxom naked model and pretty much ignored Katelyn.

Suddenly the light over the model went out, and she quickly climbed off the pedestal, reached behind it and gathered some items. She pulled a smock over her head that came down to about mid-thigh, put a hair net on her head, pulled on some yellow dishwashing gloves, and slipped on some clogs. She now looked like a somewhat underdressed cleaning lady. The model picked up a dust rag and a can of Pledge, and began wandering around the gallery cleaning.

Katelyn broke into a huge grin as the significance of the performance sunk in. The guys, on the other hand, were definitely not appreciating it as much as she did, since they had been deprived of their naked beauty. They watched for a few seconds, and then hastily moved on to the next room to see if there was anything better to watch. Katelyn sat and watched the model wander around and act like she was cleaning the gallery. A couple people tried to talk to her, but she just smiled and continued to clean. The concept appealed to Katelyn, showing the other side of women being put up on pedestals, that they were still expected to clean up. And to tell the truth, Katelyn found the model's movements in the thin smock, barely concealing her curves and jiggling pleasantly under the fabric, were much sexier than the fixed naked pose she had been in moments before.

A few minutes later the light went on again over the pedestal. The girl came back to it, efficiently stripped naked and climbed back up into the same pose. Katelyn realized that part of the reason for the ritual was to keep the poor girl's legs from cramping into knots. No one could kneel on that pedestal all evening, so the cleaning act made the performance possible. But the symbolism of the piece, and the fun of watching the guys' reaction put a smile on Katelyn's face as she decided it was time to move on to the next piece.

Katelyn almost gasped as she walked into the next room. She was definitely not in Kansas anymore! There were two women standing in a small roped off area in front of a wall of giant monitors. One woman was naked, the other fully dressed, and they were kissing passionately. While Katelyn's sexual experience was pretty much on the straight and narrow, she believed herself to be open minded, and she had to admit that the raw passion in front of her started a warm tingling centered around her crotch.

She walked farther into the room, totally absorbed by what the two women were doing. They had broken off their kiss, and now the naked one was unbuttoning the other's blouse. She slowly undid the buttons one by one, placing a gentle kiss on the flesh that was being gradually exposed. Katelyn had never imagined anything like this in her life, and the idea that these two girls were doing this in front of her and the other two observers was blowing the college student's mind. More than that, she had to admit, it was fiercely arousing. She squeezed her thighs together tightly, and had to use all her will power to not satisfy the urges that were emanating from her crotch.

Soon the naked girl had the other's blouse off, and she went to work on the bra. She reached behind her friend's back, undid the clasp, and pulled the bra off. The two girls kissed some more, rubbing their exposed nipples against each other. Just the sight of it made Katelyn shiver in excitement. The naked girl pulled back, gave a little smile, and pulled on the bra that she had just taken from her comrade. Then she put on the blouse and buttoned it up.

The now topless girl resumed kissing the bottomless one. Katelyn was starting to get the idea, so she was not surprised to see the one woman begin to unzip her partner's skirt. Soon it dropped to floor. Katelyn was surprised that both of the guys had left the room, so she didn't feel quite as self-conscious moving to get closer to the two women. The bottomless woman kissed the topless woman's neck, and then moved her mouth down her friend's body, down to her bare breast, kissing around her rigid nipple, down her belly, and then to the top of the woman's thong. Katelyn was shocked to realize that a small moan escaped from her lips as she watched the bottomless woman clench the other's thong in her teeth, and use her mouth to pull down her friend's panties, exposing a completely shaved crotch.

Katelyn decided she had better look away from what the two women were doing, or she was going to get so worked up she wouldn't be able to control herself. She let her eyes drift to the screens behind the girls. Suddenly she began to realize why the other guys had left. Both of their faces were displayed in extreme close-up across the floor to ceiling stack of monitors. Their flushed faces, their leering expressions, all displayed in giant detail, looking like they were ogling the two girls in front of the monitors. Katelyn looked back at the women to see the bottomless one had stripped her partner entirely, and was now stepping into the thong. She quickly pulled the underwear up, stepped into the skirt, and zipped it up. They began kissing again, one naked and the other fully clothed, but the individuals reversed. Katelyn looked back up to the screen behind her, and her mouth dropped open as now one of the giant faces staring at the girls was her own.

She looked around the room, and didn't see any cameras, but clearly they must have been somewhere. The image wasn't live, since the face was not moving as she moved now. Katelyn was embarrassed to see how flushed she looked on the screen, and how she could see a little perspiration on her upper lip. Suddenly, to her horror, she realized that the screen was showing a loop of her reaction when the one girl had pulled the other's panties down with her teeth. Katelyn was glad no one was there to watch as her giant face transitioned from merely flushed and interested, to a look of surprise, to pure lust as her mouth opened, letting out that moan over and over again.

Katelyn looked back down at the two women, and the naked one was starting to unbutton the other's blouse, just as had been done to her a few minutes ago. Part of Katelyn wanted desperately to watch the show again, to see if this girl would use her teeth to strip the other, to see if she did anything new, but knowing that her face was going to be shown on the screen, showing her arousal and any glimmer of lust that appeared on her face, was too humiliating. Katelyn figured that was why the guys had left before her, it made them uncomfortable to watch themselves as they watched the show. Katelyn reluctantly shuffled on to the next room. As she left, she saw the title of the installation. "Do You Like to Watch?"

In the next room the roped off area contained a woman who was standing behind a curtain. Well actually there was a horizontal hoop with curtains hanging in a circle around the woman from near her shoulders down to the floor. The woman's shoulders were bare, and Katelyn wondered if she were naked, but there was no way to tell standing behind the ropes. Coming out from underneath the curtains, a cable snaked out from the roped off area, and connected to some kind of exercise bike. A sign on the wall said "Art or Porn?" Katelyn was still trying to figure all of this out when the woman spoke to her.

"Hi," the woman said, "are you enjoying the show?"

"Hum... it's.... uhm... interesting," Katelyn stumbled out, still flustered from her arousal at the two girls kissing in the previous room.

"Interesting," the woman laughed, "I'll take that, I guess. I was hoping for 'mind-blowing,' or 'shocking,' or 'life-changing,' or even 'thought-provoking.' But 'interesting' will have to do."

"Oh," Katelyn was having difficulty putting it together. "Are you the artist?"

"Guilty as charged. Wouldn't be good to be a performance artist and not be part of the performance."

"Oh," smiled Katelyn, "then I'll change my answer to 'mind-blowing.' I'm not sure I'm ready to commit to 'life-changing' yet."

"Oh good!" The artist seemed genuinely pleased. "I do like to provoke. And I'm glad you said 'yet', so I still have time."

"The first piece, the pedestal, that was really clever. I mean, at first I thought, like, what the fuck, but when she put on the smock and started cleaning, that was awesome. And the look on the guys' faces," Katelyn giggled, "I don't think they liked it."

The artist laughed, and they talked about the roles of women as either sexual objects or servants. Then they went on to discuss the second piece, and Katelyn found herself getting aroused again thinking about the two women. It turned out they were friends of the artist, and they both actually worked as strippers. The artist explained to Katelyn how her friends were doing a routine they had created on stage, the swapping of the clothes, and the artist had used that as a way to explore exhibitionism and voyeurism. Katelyn was honest with her about how being displayed on the large monitors had made her very uncomfortable. She was less honest about how watching the two girls stripping each other had excited her, but something about the wry smile on the artist's face made Katelyn feel like it wasn't a secret.

Katelyn had been talking to the artist for maybe five minutes or so when another guy walked into the room. He stood behind Katelyn listening to the conversation for a bit, but didn't say anything. Katelyn glanced at him a few times, but when he didn't join in on the discussion about the interrelations between art and exhibitionism, she focused in on talking to the artist. Katelyn barely registered as he walked around the roped area and looked at the excer-cycle. As Katelyn and the artist continued to chat, he climbed onto the bike, and began to pedal.

Almost immediately a motor came on above the artist, and the hoop that held the curtain up began to rise. Within a few seconds it had lifted high enough that it covered the artist's face, and she stopped talking. Katelyn asked her what was going on, but there was no reply. The curtain kept rising, exposing the artist's legs as it lifted off the floor. The guy pedaled a little faster and the curtain sped up as well. Katelyn guess that the bike was providing electricity to power the motor lifting the curtain. Now the artist's thighs were showing, and it was clear that she couldn't be wearing very much, because her legs were completely bare. Her legs also seemed to be astraddle some kind of sawhorse or something. Her legs were spread fairly wide, and there were four wooden legs visible between her legs.

Once the curtain reached the level where Katelyn could see the artist's crotch, there was no longer any doubt that she was totally naked. There was some kind of machine on top of a low table. The machine was about the size of a breadbox, with a rounded top. The height of the machine was just right so the woman could straddle it with her feet just touching the floor. Katelyn almost gasped as she saw the artist's hairless pussy was resting on some kind of pad on the machine, the pressure of her weight clearly splitting her nether lips. The lips looked swollen and damp, like she was very aroused, and had been for some time.

The curtain lifted up where the bottom was now almost to the artist's shoulders, exposing her full, pendulous breasts with their large, erect nipples. Katelyn couldn't help but think what a sexy, fertile body the woman had, and it made her own vagina twitch just thinking about how the artist had put herself in a position to be exposed like this. She was completely bare and exhibiting herself for all to see. Her hands rested on the machine behind her, making her arch her back so her breasts thrust forward. Only her face was hidden by the curtains.

Before Katelyn could have another thought, the machine between the artist's legs began to buzz and vibrate, and her body began to undulate in response. Katelyn looked over at the guy on the bike, and who now had a devilish grin on his face. He started pedaling faster, and the noise from the machine between the woman's legs increased, and Katelyn heard a moan come from behind the curtain. Katelyn's mouth dropped open as she realized that the machine the artist was straddling was some kind of giant vibrator, and the guy pedaling was powering it, sending vibrations of ecstasy into the artist's crotch. She was now gyrating on the device, her large breasts swaying and trembling as it was clear that she was getting very turned on. Her moans became louder and more emphatic from behind the curtain, egging the bike rider to pedal faster and harder.

It was all Katelyn could do to keep herself from moaning in sympathy. She clasped her hands in front of her, hoping the way she was pressing into her crotch was at least somewhat subtle. At least the guy couldn't take his eyes off the naked body, and artist's face was covered so she couldn't see. Katelyn could only hope that no cameras were focused on her as her body did pelvic tilts out of its own volition. All she could think about is what it would be like to be on that machine. To be at the mercy of anyone who decided to ride the bike. All it took was for some random person to get on and start pedaling, and she'd become a faceless naked body, writhing and moaning her way to an uncontrolled orgasm. There wouldn't be any thing she could do to stop it. Just the thought of it made her weak in the knees.

The nude body in front of Katelyn was beginning to glisten with a sheen of perspiration and the gyrations and moaning were now falling into a steady rhythm. The guy wiped sweat from his brow, and pushed himself to pedal even harder, clearly intent on seeing if he could take the artist all the way to orgasm. Katelyn realized a trickle of sweat was dripping behind her ear as well, as the intensity of the experience overwhelmed her. Katelyn kept staring, riveted as the artist began to tremble. Her body lifted up onto her tip toes. Her legs began to tremble and spasm. Finally, all hell broke loose.

"Oh God! Oooohh," the Artist began to cry out louder. "Oh fuck! Oh yeah. Omigod... OOOOOAAAAAHHHHHHhhhh!"

It was Katelyn could do to stop herself from squeezing her jean covered crotch at the sound and sight of the Artist cumming. Her whole body shuddered and bucked. She jumped up and down, bouncing on the vibrator over and over again, letting out unintelligible animal sounds and the occasional squeak as she was consumed by her passion. Katelyn couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be her, forced to orgasm while others watched, completely out of control. But she did envy that the artist did at least get to cum, and Katelyn would not until she got home and masturbated herself non-stop for the rest of the night.

Suddenly the guys legs began spinning much faster, like the bike had lost all resistance. The buzzing stopped, and the curtain began to lower itself. Katelyn wasn't sure if artist had hit some kind of a switch, or if the machine could sense that she had cum. Either way it made sense, it would be torture to have that machine stimulating her non-stop without some kind of way for a break.

The curtain lowered to the floor, and the artist's face reappeared, flushed and sweaty. She had a huge smile on her face.

"Oh good," she managed to pant, trying to catch her breath, "you're still here. Now, where were we?"

Both women cracked up at the absurdity of the comment and the situation. The guy who had ridden the bike suddenly looked a little embarrassed, and now that bike wasn't doing anything he dismounted and slouched out of the room.

"We were talking about exhibitionism as art," Katelyn smiled, "but I think you've moved that topic onto a whole new level of intensity."

"Yeah," the artists puffed her cheeks in a breath, "that was pretty intense."

"So is that going to happen to you over and over tonight?" Katelyn hoped she didn't sound too eager in her questioning.

"Well, the safety shutoff disables the bike for about 90 seconds, but other than that it totally depends on how many people decide they'd rather watch me have orgasms than talk with me about art."

"Hmmm," Katelyn gave her a cryptic smile, "maybe some people will like both."

"That may be," replied the artist, "but those who want to make me cum, to have sex with me in a metaphoric way, they will always get priority. That's one of the points of the piece."

"I see," Katelyn said as she walked over towards the bike. "It's a very interesting performance. I really only have one more question."

Katelyn climbed on the bike, and the artist gave her a worried look.

"Okay... what's that?"

"Do you think you'd have room for me in your next performance?"