Often it is said I know the real Las Vegas. And, sometimes I do. And, sometimes like the rest of you I read about it on the Internet. Here is one of the places I learn. Let me warn readers in advance this is a link to a site with adult content including erotic self-portraits. But the author talks in a very direct and honest way about the daily life of a working escort in Vegas. Part of the reason she is so honest  in her descriptions and detail is that she carefully protects her anonymity and does NOT solicit clients for her work from this site. Rather this is her chosen expression to the world about her life here in Vegas.

I asked the author of this blog, who I have met in person for a couple interviews, to review for Gold Plated Door a new art exhibit at UNLV that has been getting a lot of attention. The reason why should be clear from her observations included bellow:

“So this past rainy Saturday night I got the chance to escape working for an hour or so and check out Lauren McCubbin’s opening night of her exhibit on the UNLV campus (unfortunately in what could be the smallest gallery I have ever been in, though she assured me the full show would be in the larger gallery at the end of her thesis.)  I have been quite intrigued by what Lauren was trying to accomplish for her project and noticed it gaining in media coverage over the past few weeks. Since I had declined to be in the show due to my own privacy issues, I wanted to come out and show my support in other ways.

I walked in and made it just in time for the burlesque performance put on by four girls dressed with big hair, red lips and their eyes painted as if they had been crying. They wore nude colored bodices while dancing around to the song, “Hey Big Spender” (how appropriate!), and the performance ended with their midsections being torn away to reveal sparkled, embellished guts. After the performance I got a chance to wander around looking at the different parts of the show.

On one wall were white lacquered boards that had small holes drilled in them to reveal only the censored parts of cards passed on the Strip (usually small stars to cover nipples and other naughty areas), on the back wall were framed stripper cards, and on the side wall was a rack of shoes for the patrons to try on. A little symbolic of the line, “take a walk in my shoes” but in the literal sense. I got a kick out of that part of the exhibit. It was funny to see grown men stumbling around almost breaking their ankles while grabbing onto their friends shoulder to walk in shoes that I used to wear every night for hours upon end. Even funnier is how I used to think those shoes were pretty comfortable compared to some of the heels I walk in now to work. On another wall hung large versions of Lauren’s designs of several cards to resemble the ones passed on the Strip with portraits of real sex workers she had met and interviewed (which you can check out on her site). I personally liked her artistic take on the cards with their bright colors and animated qualities, and of course a nice change from the stripper cards I see in client’s rooms all the time.

Last, but not least and most influential to me, was the wall with the arranged photographs and video projector documenting the event that took place on the Strip a few weeks ago where Lauren was passing out her card designs, with a functioning 1-800 number to people on the Strip in front of the Venetian hotel. This is a typical spot for handing out the actual cards. The video projected on the wall captured the event that took place where the security was harassing them, followed by the head of security coming out to threaten their ability to pass cards, and finally Las Vegas Metro was called out. In the end, they were told the same thing that people have fought for years about, stay in the sidewalk easement so many feet from the street and you are within your legal First Amendment right of free speech.

This battle of the sidewalks has raged on for years and years before I ever moved here. I am a big supporter of free speech rights, our rights as citizens needs to be protected and not bullied by the large corporate casinos. Venetian is one area where there is a street curb that meets some sort of sidewalk, but in the example of Treasure Island or the new CityCenter, the casinos have built their properties on purpose to not contain a public right of way next to the street curb.

After talking to Lauren and asking her if they ever explained to the security or Metro that this was in fact for a project/social experiment and not a real escort agency, she told me no, they never knew it was any different. I was glad to hear that the truth was never told to change the outcome of how the police or security handled the situation.

I can’t wait to see the final show at the end of her thesis and see where she goes next in the project. It seems like it has shaped up to a lot more than visual and performing art, but also documenting our basic speech rights even on the Strip.

The title to the exhibit is, “Speaking To Las Vegas In The Language Of Las Vegas,” and she definitely lived up to that.  Sometimes you have to speak a little bit louder in Las Vegas, but I think she is being heard. Stop by the Grant Hall Gallery in the GRA building at UNLV or check out the project site.”

(Photo: Coutesy of Thelasvegascourtesan.com)