Playing with Fire group photo

HyperAllergic Review of Playing With Fire

By Tulsa Kinney. Meet the Doyennes of Ecosexuality.

In their latest film, Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens advocate replacing an exploitative relationship with the Earth with one based on intimacy, care, and pleasure.

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The rainy season is over, and the verdant hills up the west central coast dazzle our eyes; the blue ocean sparkles in the high sun. It’s a straight shot up the 101 Freeway from my house in Echo Park, with only one turn:Madonna Road, the exit for the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

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Volcano Graphic for Playing with Fire

Filmmaker Magazine Review of Playing With Fire

By Scott Macaulay.

“Fire is Like Sex — Neither Good Nor Bad But What You Bring To It”: Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens on Playing with Fire: An Ecosexual Emergency.

In the first two films in their trilogy of environmental-themed documentaries, Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle married — literally — their loving spirit of “ecosexuality” with urgent debates around the preservation of our natural resources. In 2014’s Goodbye Gauley Mountain — An Ecosexual Love Story, Stephens returned to her West Virginia home with Sprinkle only to find the eponymous ridges she remembered from her youth undergoing the environmentally-destructive coal-mining process of mountaintop removal.

Read Full Review here

Bazoombas Cake photo

Broke Ass Stuart Review of Bazoombas in Love

By Vita Hewitt. Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle’s ‘Bazoombas in Love’ Brings Heart to Breast Celebration at Cushion Works.

I love boobs. You probably do too. But no one I know loves boobs more than ecosexual artists and Bay Area icons Annie Sprinkle and Beth Stephens. To prove their deep affection for all things mammary and titular, their exuberant new show Bazoombas in Love opens at Cushion Works o

Read the Broke Ass Stuart Review here

Annie and Beth with castings

Cushion Works: Bazoombas in Love

View Full Press Release with more photos!

Beth Stephens and Annie Sprinkle’s…
BAZOOMBAS IN LOVE

October 24, 2025 — January 24, 2026
Opens Thursday, October 23, 6-8pm

Gallery open every Friday & Saturday 12-5pm

The name Sprinkle is assumed, but the bazoombas are Goddess-given. From the pages of mob-funded 1970s porn magazines to subculture-defining motion pictures like Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle, her endowment was her currency. By the early 90s, and transformed into a celebrated feminist performance artist and sex educator, she caught the eye of a sharp Rutgers graduate student named Beth Stephens, who included one of her inky “Tit Prints” in a curated exhibition. An invitation to campus followed, inaugurating a memorable first collaboration: femme Annie straddling a Harley Davidson, butch Beth playing the leather-clad biker-cum-photographer, coaxing the sex symbol to perform on her own terms, and ultimately their own terms.

A romance took hold, followed by a decades-long partnership generating a dizzying array of collaborative artworks, many defying simple classification and instead combining elements of performance, video, photography, publishing, and life-as-art experiments. There were Sidewalk Sex Clinics, activist manifestos, feature-length documentary films, and a seven-year Love Art Laboratory project. They are perhaps most well-known as founders of the Ecosex movement, and for their ongoing love affair with the Earth itself. Under the Ecosexual banner, the artists have embarked on an epic series of 21 public Gesamtkunstwerke, ceremonially marrying fire, soil, sun, snow, rocks, sea, mountains, moon, sky, and more, over the course of nine years across nine countries.

No subject or surface was immune to their artistic approach. Even Annie’s first breast cancer diagnosis in 2005 catalyzed an emotionally moving series of collages, unflinching operating room portraits, touring two-woman theater piece, and chemo fashion show. The couple has said that producing art made having cancer worthwhile, a radically optimistic perspective that speaks directly to their belief in art as a force for healing.

News of a breast cancer recurrence, followed by a lumpectomy this past summer, inspired the idea of a San Francisco exhibition about change, desire, and disease. There could be new collages made from strangely beautiful MRI scans mixed with old pin-up photos, cheeky mammogram selfies, a celebratory photo shoot of their aging and erotic breasts, and the sharing of creative strategies for survival with their communities. But the pathology report revealed more cancer, an “occult” form undetectable in scans and visible only in the laboratory. A double mastectomy was suddenly very much on the table, along with related questions: What does a commitment to art, life, and repair look like under such conditions? And how does an artist and performer primarily known for her bazoombas face the prospect of living without them?

The artists not only decided to proceed with the exhibition, but to deepen their commitment to it—and to each other. The show would become Bazoombas in Love, a love story in boobs, a reflection on growing up and growing older, and ultimately a chronicle of their richly intertwined lives.

The exhibition features brand new visual artworks, a “Love Infusion Clinic,” bronze chest casts, Beth’s early photographs, a boobliography, vintage materials spanning Annie’s five-decade career, and much more. A separate room includes breast-related artworks from their personal collection, made by friends, colleagues, and community members.

While anchored in a physical presentation, the exhibition pulses with programming: a pre-exhibition walking tour from Cushion Works to The Lab, a breast cancer healing circle and panel with seven generations of cancer vixens, “Tit Print” demos, and “Tits, Tarts & Crafts,” a holiday gift-making event. Not to mention “Tit Lit” open mic night, gallery tours led by the artists, Boob Reiki, and discussions about art, erotics and illness. Annie’s Radiation Termination Celebration will be part of the fun, too, as it marks the end of her treatment (November 15).

The proceedings begin in October, during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Bring your mind, bring your heart, and bring your body. In fact, every body is invited.

Calendar

The gallery is open every Friday & Saturday from 12 to 5pm.

Friday, October 17, 6-7:30 pm — “An Ecosexual Walking Tour In Search of the Elusive Boobie Bird” with Beth Stephens and Amanda Starbuck. Cameo by Annie Sprinkle. Produced by THE LAB.

Saturday, October 18, 8-10 pm — Screening of Playing with Fire–An Ecosexual Emergency, Artist Television Access.

Thursday, October 23, 6-8pm — Opening Reception

Saturday, November 15, 12-5 pm — Beth and Annie will be in the gallery all day offering Love Infusions, milk from the Milk Bar, and giving personalized tours of the exhibition. They will also serve tittie torte cup cakes to celebrate Beth’s birthday and the completion of Annie’s breast cancer radiation treatments.

Saturday, December 6, 12-5 pm — “Tits, Tarts & Crafts” — Drop by and make some holiday cards and gifts with Beth and Annie and their crafty friends. We will have art supplies, though feel free to bring your own supplies and ideas. Special guest artists to help you include Julie Blankenship, Deborah Oak, and Carol Queen.

Gallery closed for holidays December 7 to January 9.

Saturday, January 10, 12-3pm — Gallery tours and Love Infusions by Beth and Annie.
3-4:15pm TIT LIT — Open mic for all breast related readings. Bring poems, writings, medical reports, musings, etc. Special guest reading by Camile Roy. Hang out til 5pm.

Saturday, January 17, 12-2pm — The artists will be present, the Love Infusion Clinic will be open (get milk at the Milk Bar!), and experience various Experimental (Art) Healing Modalities with our clinicians.

2pm — Panel: Artist Cancer Stories: Every Body is Invited. An inter-generational, gender diverse panel will share stories of their experiences with cancer.  The panel will climax with a “Ritual Blessing of our Bodies.”

Saturday, January 24, 12- 5pm — Closing event with Beth and Annie, details to be announced. After gallery hours conclude, we will walk two blocks to The LAB for a “Milk Bar Community Meal,” where the food and entertainment will all be inspired by breasts.

One gallery features boob-related artworks from Annie and Beth’s personal collection. The presentation includes: Linda M. Montano, Madison Young, Dragonfly Diva, Hoshi Hana, Shine Louise Houston, Monica Canilao, Camille Holvoet, Dan & Laurie Hennig, David Steinberg, Willem de Ridder, Deborah Oak Cooper, Vanessa K. Rees, Samantha Nye, Franko B., Guillermo Gómez Peña, James Mogul, Petra Kralickova, Joyce Culver, Celestina Pearl, Kalash, Jiz Lee, Kaytea Petro, Luke Dixon, Joel Peter Witkin, Michael Steven Flynn, Carol Queen, Amy Graham, Courtney Desiree Morris, Dorian Katz, Josie Bunny, Louis Rawlings, Sheila Malone, Sarah Thornton, and Charles Gatewood.

Performance Artists & Healers: Amanda Starbuck, Jane Hamilton, Veronica Hart, Rebeka Rodriguez Mondragón, Sam McGinnes, Beatrice Favaretto, Julie Blankenship, Nicholetta von Heidegger, Lady Monster, Bill Basquin

Special thanks to Tamara Freedman, Ryan Whelan, Caitlyn Galloway, Kevin Lopez, Keith Wilson, Little Shiva, Ruby Pearl, Craig Baldwin, and Artist Television Access. Bronze torsos cast by Sean M. Monaghan of Bronze Works Santa Cruz with assistance from Raissa Boysen and Anastasia Oleson.

Albert Float, 4th of July Parade, Boulder Creek

Albert Float, 4th of July Parade, Boulder Creek

We’ll be producing a contingent for the Boulder Creek 4th of July Parade to celebrate the life and legend of Albert, the magical white peacock who graced our town for 35 years. Albert was the unofficial Mayor of Boulder Creek and is the star of our fire documentary film. Sadly, Albert was killed by a mountain lion in December 2024, but his spirit continues to soar. Come march with us in one of the most eclectic, colorful, and joyful small-town parades in the USA. 

https://www.santacruz.org/upcoming-event/boulder-creek-july-4th-parade-and-block-party/ 
https://lookout.co/in-a-town-once-scorched-by-wildfire-albert-the-white-peacock-became-a-symbol-of-resilience-and-loss/story

Lenbachhaus Walking Ritual: Beth and Annie wearing green festive costumes

Lenbachhaus Walking Ritual

Ecosexual Walking Ritual
Beth Stephens & Annie Sprinkle present: An Ecosexual Walking Ritual – Imagining the Earth as Lover

When:
Thu, May 7, 2026, 6pm–8pm

Free admission

Duration:
approx. 2 hours

Meeting point:
Lenbachhaus Garden

What else:Please bring: Wear comfortable shoes and dress as if the Earth is your lover.
No registration required Access note:
In good weather, the walk will take place in the garden, where garden chairs and folding chairs are available. Non-barrier access is via the main entrance of the Lenbachhaus, past the ticket office on the right, through the door and down the stairs.

Barrier-free access to the garden is via the gate on Luisenstraße. Our security staff will be happy to open the gate for you. You can reach our staff on +49 89 233 66300. There are gravel paths in the garden. 
You can find further information on accessibility here.

This sensuous, outdoor adventure begins with an Ecosex Orientation. Then as Stephens & Sprinkle shine a light on environmental concerns, you’ll explore 25 ways to make love to the Earth, get wet with a water toast, find your E-spots, learn some ecosexercises, try grassalingus, and climax with rubbing the planetary clitoris. By the end, you’ll likely have your “ecosexual gaze” on and you might discover that you’re ecosexual too!

With: Beth Stephens, Annie Sprinkle, Ruby Tuesday, Ella von der Haide, Helen Varley Jamieson with Magdalena München, Special guest appearance by Emily Woods, directed by Joy Brooke Fairfield.

Salzburg photo

Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Art

Salzburg International Summer Academy of Fine Art

Exploring the Earth as Lover; New Approaches to Environmental Art, Theory & Activism 

Salzburg, Austria
July 31, 2023 - August 13, 2023

We’ll be teaching an in-person 2-week course in a castle! It will be Interdisciplinary; Art, Performance Art, Community Building, Theory, Praxis.

We are creating a gathering of artists, academics, sex workers, sexologists, healers, environmental activists, nature fetishists, gardeners, media makers, therapists, activists, eco-feminists, educators, (r)evolutionaries, critters and other entities from diverse aspects of life to celebrate, proclaim, challenge, debate, perform, create and stimulate our senses. Bringing our environmental concerns and diverse knowledges together, we’ll learn about what’s happening in environmental art, sexecology and ecosex theory and practice. 

More details to be announced soon at www.summeracademy.at/en/

 

The Park As Lover

The Park As Lover: A Walking Ritual

Düsseldorf, Germany | June 22, 2024

The Park as Lover, in the Lantz’sch Park (the People’s Park) in Düsseldorf, Germany where we will explore and honor the park by walking in and around it. Eventually we will come to a sacred grove, where we will hold a participatory commitment ritual for the park, the forest, and for peace on Earth. Many friends from the Buga Festival will join us there, as well as Joy Brook Fairfield (our director) and amazing author, Dr. Mithu M. Sanyal. Beekeeper and Theater Director Luke Dixon will be there too. This performance ritual take place the afternoon of June 22, 2024, the first day of summer. More details to follow.

Location:  Lantz’scher Skulpturenpark

What: Our piece will take the best parts of our eco-weddings and our eco-walking tours and spin them into a new form–the Ecosex Walking Ritual. 

Who: An eco artist collective; Beth, Annie, Joy, 5 Mannheim-based artists, Luke Dixon (London bee-keeper& artist). K.Klang and team, and several local artists.

Intentions:
To generate love and appreciation for the Park (Earth) and each other.
To pollinate the ideas of Park (Earth) as lover
To nurture ourselves and each other.
To get ecosexy, have fun and heal the world!

The Plan: Parts of the Ritual Walk

Gathering (welcome audience, ambient performances, do the eco name tags…)

Opening scene and introductions to the team with Beth & Annie and the group

Go on the Walk with stops for artist’s performance rituals along the way

Climax is a (simple) wedding ritual with vows to love and honor the Earth, rings, kiss

Strong finale with the group

 

Photos by Lydia Daniller