Marxizm de Sad 1998

This photograph, *Marxizm de Sad*, was made by Arsen Savadov at an unknown date, using photography. The figures occupy a strange space, a clearing that feels both natural and artificial, kind of like how the lighting has this uncanny quality. The bunny ears, the harnesses, the book, they all create a sense of unease, of something just not quite fitting together. Look at the textures here, the smoothness of the skin against the roughness of the bark, and then the way the light glances off the leather. The skin tones are muted and fleshy; their pallor contrasts so sharply with the verdant greens of the background, which feels almost oppressive, like the forest is watching. Those bunny ears, though; they’re like a punchline, a dark joke about innocence and perversion, like something you’d find in a work by Hans Bellmer. It all invites a conversation about the nature of control, desire, and the kind of stories we tell ourselves, about who we are and what we want.