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Office Romance "Office Romance" is a wonderfully multi-layered drawing in my continuing exploration of male intergenerational sexuality. Since the "action" is self-explanatory, I thought I'd delve into a subtext that floated through my mind as I put this piece together. It's about power and being powerless. It's about a middle-aged, out-of-shape man who has nothing to look forward to as he labors under the benign drudgery of some paltry, struggling company. His life is over. He goes through the motions always aware that the company may fail; that younger, more ambitious young men are gunning for his boring, uninspiring position; that some investment capital group could buy out the company and fire him; or that some other catastrophe lurks around the corner. The only real power he has is over his underlings. The only joy left to him is the clumsy groping of some junior, stock clerk in a dismal, deserted office on occasion. He's frustrated and defeated but has this one single outlet that reminds him that he is a man, that he is alive, and that he is still capable of experiencing pleasure. The stock clerk is a young man, horny all the time anyway, who has this opportunity to engage in a sexual tryst without active participation or responsibility. He doesn't see his own future in this older guy. He's idealistic and curious. He can't imagine that one day he too will be trapped in a meaningless, dead-end job leaving him so frustrated that taking advantage of lesser employees is the only salvation for his sanity. Both of these guys are powerless, but only the older one really understands what that means. A little bit of a buzz-kill, I guess. Sorry. Probably not something you care to know, but I've worn my dick out masturbating to this particular scenario. Just saying. Feel free to put your own psychological interpretation to the drawing. That's really the beauty of these things. We can assess whatever information is incorporated in a drawing and create our own story lines, biographical suppositions, motivations, etc. The drawings are an invitation to let the viewer be as creative as the artist.
— Michael Kirwan
It Starts As Horseplay — 2012 — 5½" x 8½" |
