CYBERSPACE—Multi-hyphenate adult star Stoya endeavors to offer fans an online experience as singular yet ecclectic as herself by way of new website ZeroSpaces.com.
Officially launched Thursday, ZeroSpaces is presented in the form of digital "issues" comprised of videos, photo sets, essays, fiction and more, with each issue built around a common palette of themes. Issue one, titled "Live," centers around the themes of blooming, transformation and electricity.
Created in collaboration with web designer/writer Mitcz (pronounced "Mitch") Marzoni, who also serves as the webmaster for GodsGirls.com and holds a 10 percent stake in ZeroSpaces, the site is described as "a sexually explicit media project ... that aims at the gap between 'mainstream' and erotic or explicit material, and that fosters a connection to the people—the living, breathing humans—who create the work that is consumed."
"I've been trying to dismantle the barrier between hardcore video porn and everything else since before AVN awarded me Best New Starlet," Stoya elaborated to AVN (who awarded her said title in 2009, for the record).
Asked what she saw as the biggest hurdle to accomplishing that goal, she responded, "In this specific moment? The overreaction of social networking sites to FOSTA/SESTA and the resulting decrease in the voices of sex workers being heard, and the #MeToo movement's turn towards blaming porn for bad behavior. Collectively—even the performers who consider themselves distinct from sex workers—we've gained a lot of ground in the past decade as far as the general public's understanding of our jobs as legitimate and ourselves as humans like any other, but we're seeing that slip."
Stoya expands on this notion in her "editor's letter" for the "Live" issue, writing, "You may have heard me describe my experiences in the west, especially America, as being put on a pedestal in a garbage can. ... ZeroSpaces is, in a way, my response to this situation. My attempt to chip away at the problem of society othering brazenly sexual people and especially those of us who perform sexual or erotic acts as part of our work."
As far as what she sees as the target demographic for ZeroSpaces, she told AVN, "I expect the project to resonate with people who like their porn smart and their erotica deep."
To that end, "Live" contains four hardcore videos (including two versions of a scene from Stoya's Around the World in 80 Ways series opposite Erik Everhard), a profile of adult legend Annie Sprinkle, another profile of trans sex worker/advocate Ceyenne Doroshow, a fiction piece titled "Jolt" by Chelsea G. Summers, two stylistic photo sets and more.
The "Live" issue may be purchased for $25, which allows unlimited access to all its contents. The videos and photo sets may also be purchased a la carte, and a number of separate videos are currently available on the site for individual purchase as well. All other contents of each issue, however, can only be accessed by purchasing the full issue. Current plans are for new issues to be released quarterly (or every three months).
There is no option yet offered for a yearly subscription, but one could become available, Stoya said, depending upon "how viable the project ends up being—whether there are enough consumers to fund monthly issues."
Stoya and Marzoni also plan to embark upon a "ZeroSpaces Live" tour of interactive sex ed forums. More information on that can be found here.
