Meet the Doyennes of Ecosexuality
Hyperallergic profiled artists and filmmakers Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens in San Luis Obispo, California, where they presented a sneak preview of their new film Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency (2025) at Cuesta College. The film completes an “ecosexual” documentary trilogy that also includes Goodbye Gauley Mountain: An Ecosexual Love Story (2014) and Water Makes Us Wet: An Ecosexual Adventure (2019), addressing environmental crises including mountaintop removal, water sustainability, and wildfire. The article situates the screening alongside artist Samantha Nye’s installation Web of Love at the Cuesta College art gallery and recounts the group’s stay at the Madonna Inn, where Nye previously filmed a spoof video in early 2026. Sprinkle and Stephens, who met in 1991, became partners in 2002, and are now married, planned to tour the film in Germany at festivals and to premiere it in fall at REDCAT in Los Angeles.
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Auction Fever, Museum Fallout, and Artworld Threats