“Hey, Where’s My Robot Girlfriend?” lecture at The Tip, San Francisco

I recently had the pleasure to photograph medical anthropologist, cyber-sexpert and MD/PhD. candidate Laura G. Duncan when she recently visited San Francisco and presented her “Hey, Where’s My Robot Girlfriend?” multimedia show at the Tip. (For those of you who don’t know, this is the fabulous rooftop event space, hosted by well known San Francisco agency, Duncan Channon). I have to say, this event was by far one of the most interesting, and unusual, I’ve had the opportunity to photograph in a while.

Musical foreplay was provided by Chel C. Faith, who performed a live PA salute to robot eroticism on stompboxes, loopstations and mixers. Aphrodisia was provided by 600 Hog Island oysters served raw and al fresco on the Tip roof and washed down with a fearsome concoction called Robot Sex on the Beach created by D/C’s friends at The Alcohol Enthusiast. (The mixologist, Neil, was the one to invent the original Cosmo).

Laura Duncan was not only an informative speaker, but also really funny. She single handedly made a complex, and somewhat risque topic, quite enjoyable for all. I’m not sure what people knew about sex and machines before this lecture, but one thing is for sure….the masturbatory machine world goes WAY beyond the mere vibrator. Some of it interesting, some of it a bit creepy, but hey, different strokes for different folks, right? (No pun intended!)

A Little About Laura:

Raised in Boston and currently settled in Brooklyn, Laura G. Duncan is a sexual health researcher and educator studying issues of sexuality within medicine. This research focuses on the issues of social inequity in sexual health care, as well as health technologies and accessibility in underserved communities.

With a degree in Medical Anthropology and Human Sexuality Studies from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, she has worked as a sexual health educator for a high school, medical school, condom company and health non-profit. She currently serves as a full-spectrum doula with The Doula Project and a Gynecological Teaching Associate.

For the past two years, Laura has been performing a multimedia research presentation on sexual robotics and teledildonics in venues around New York City. This event has been featured on the cover of Time Out New York, as well as by The Village Voice, Though Catalog, New York Magazine, AOL’s Lemondrop and others.

Other public appearances have included workshops on topics such as: contraception and STI prevention, sexual pleasure, and navigating health care for queer communities. She has been a featured guest on various radio shows, podcasts and at themed readings. Past publications include educational materials and web resources on sexual health, relationship and communication skills, as well as a paper on reproductive evolution coauthored for The American Journal of Human Biology.

She is the proud owner of one handmade Star Trek uniform, turn of the century erotic memoirs and a stack of 1920’s anatomical drawings.

For more information on Laura, or to check her out at her next appearance, please visit her online: http://lauragduncan.tumblr.com/