A performance artist who slept with a different person for 365 days straight revealed the profound impact that his experiment had on him.
Mischa Badasyan didn't abide by the three-date rule a lot of people subscribe to, as he was rolling around in the sheets with his sexual conquests shortly after meeting them for the first time.
As part of his controversial 'Save the Date' project, he sought out 'someone new' to have sex with every single day for an entire year.
The Berlin-based creative explained he embarked on his intimate mission back in 2014 in the hopes of addressing issues in the gay community such as loneliness, which stemmed from the lack of romantic love in his life.
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"I wanted to make a piece that exaggerated my feelings and my emotional state at the moment," Badasyan told Vice at the time. "So far, I’ve never been in love. In this performance, I’m going to share and give all my love to people.
"Sex is just a method to express my idea It’s a processional art that deals with the relational aesthetics - aesthetics existing only in the relationships with someone that I meet."
The announcement of his Save the Date project prompted a lot of backlash online, although a lot of people were also pretty intrigued by Badasyan's plan.
Prior to completing his year-long challenge, Badasyan explained that he hoped to gain some further insight on his relationship with sex and himself, as well as producing a cracking piece of performance art.
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Speaking of how he thought Save the Date would go, he said: "I don’t really know what’s going to happen. But I’m hoping to have very beautiful and crazy meetings - romantic ones, or just crazy sexy ones.
"Anyway, I’m trying to be very honest to everyone and enjoy each guy I meet."
He compared surfing through dating sites to select male candidates each day to browsing in a 'supermarket', while adding that he also intended to meet people the old-fashion way... in person.
Two years after he kicked off his 'Save the Date' project, Badasyan revealed how the whole thing had gone - and what lasting impact having sex with a different bloke for a year had on him.
The Russian-born artist explained that he spent six months preparing for the performance art piece, which began with ensuring both his physical and sexual health was in check.
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He also thoroughly weighed up the 'moral and ethical issues' of the experiment, as well as plotting out how he 'would complete this insane idea'.
"The beauty of performance art or art generally is that there is no right or wrong," Badasyan told the Huff Post in 2016. "It is always a life experience, which can teach you a lot.
"If you’re always afraid to make a mistake, you shouldn’t be an artist. I knew it is going to be a kamikaze mission and that I will suffer a lot, but the pain is a basement of my performance art."
Reflecting on the highs and lows, Badasyan said the 'worst' part of his project was the 'rejection' he faced, as after being turned down, he would have to pick himself up and continue looking for a lover.
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"It is a very difficult - and I would say traumatic - experience if everyone rejects you at once and you still have to find someone to complete a goal for a day," he said.
"I taught myself not to cry and just keep saying to myself, 'Mischa, it is just a project, don’t give a s**t about them'."
Badasyan said that he came to a whole new array of conclusions about himself after his year-long lovemaking marathon.
Confessing that on one occasion he 'started crying' while doing the deed, the artist went on: "It never happened before and I was surprised how emotionally intertwined I became with my body.
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"I was just meeting people who inspired me and that I would love to see again, and that gave me so much energy and power," Badasyan said. "But there was this 'but'.
"This project created a lot of negative energy that I had to deal with. It was very hard for me to say no; to let go the feelings and just to relax."
Badasyan explained he broadened his horizons in the bedroom and got quite adventurous, however, this left him chasing more exhilarating experiences each time - which really changed his outlook on sex.
"In my last 4-5 months of the project, I couldn’t enjoy sex without violence," he admitted. "I had to punch, beat, slap in order to be high and excite myself. That was very new and strange for me."
But on the plus side, he learned how 'sensitive and powerful' the human body can be, while he also enjoyed some 'beautiful dates' with blokes who he then continued to maintain a friendship with.
"Some dates became part of my work; some became my close friends," Badasyan added. "It is beautiful to be connected with someone who was just part of your art piece and now my life."
The artist initially kept his Save the Date project under wraps from his sexual partners, before deciding to begin telling them as time went on due to the publicity surrounding it.
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Art, World News, Lifestyle
Olivia Burke