In the age of super interactivity, we here at db/queerart cannot but be in the front seat. A museum cannot just lean on the views or experiences of its curator: he has to base his selection criteria on the opinions of the most outspoken and critical of his cliëntèle (oops, not too sure about the spelling of that word in the 3 surrounding languages). For the past years we trusted our good old community page and the corresponding e-mail communication to give us some sense of direction for the strategies of this web collection. With the number of options in getting close to your base community doubling each year, we start to doubt if all these options really get us any closer to the wishes of the true queer art lover. If he really wants all these options, he will already be a memner of about 20 newgroups, 5 yahoo maillists and 3 MSN groups, at least, not to foget he also will b registered at myspace as queerart afficionado, have a multitude of RSS feeds of his favorite artists websites, not to mention his regular updates of over a dozen artist's weblogs. All in all, this will take the average keyboard champion over 4 hours a day. Of course you are not that insane. You expect us to do that for you, and WE WILL, as long as you keep on giving us a general idea of what you want and what you do not want. We have already gathered that you do not want us to just go along with what the neoreligious world thinks is good for us. If we go along with the pope and George W. who just want us to abstain, you will take your leave from this site. So we did the opposite: we made a special section where all the doubtfull material is based, which may not be your cup of tea, but at least it enables you guys to make up your own mind about good or bad, morals, preferences.

Still in the past season the community page seems to run dry, not in the least because e-mail is functioning less and less, thanx to inadequate measures worldwide to control spam. So one of the things we'll do in the coming season is to add a few points on the site(s) where you can leave comments and critical remarks. No, we don't want you to react to each image with "hot, give us more", like what's happening on most yahoogroups, leaving visitors with no other choice then filter out all messages without attachments. No,we just would like your serious idea's to improve our selectivity at finding the essential artists and works.

Personally, I feel we're not doing such a bad selection job sofar, but there is always room for improvement. So look forward to a first comment option below the light guy on the news page.

Delft, winter january 31st '07

After a few months of serious access trouble, originating from server firewall changes at the hosting company of the original Delftboys site, we once again can usher a sigh of relief. It took me a month or two to find out the problem did not lay with the Verotel boys, but at the hosting company. So I set out to move the whole masterclass section to a new server. Which went fine, but then again, to my disappoint I had to move the access routine to a different server, which amounted to setting up a new account at Verotel. Sadly this meant it had to be vetted all over again, so despite the capable service and technical knowhow of the Verotel staff, it took another month. I know that I have very few options to shop elsewhere for my access handling services. At least this company falls under Dutch law, and does not judge or meddle with the content of the site, although they still do have to comply with the restrictions proclaimed by the Bush gouvernerment and enforced through the creditcardcompanies of the United States.

These regulations fall into two parts: the first bit deals with $18 of U.S.C. 2257, which states that I have to keep records of persons depicted on this site to prove their identity and their age, as to control that they are of a legal age, that being 18 in my country. As my website does not deal in what is the bulk of adult web-content: actual, real life guys engaging in sexual activities, I feel I do not have any problems there. There is however another rule that states : no adult website shall display images that depict "bloodshed and gore". In my opinion that regulation is also intended to keep website content producers from getting their living models into situations that could actually endanger or mentally harm them, or where, through bondage or other forms of restraining, it is made to look like activities that are not entered into voluntarily. But the enforcers have taken that to also include fantasy works on paper, canvas or digitally rendered, where nobody has actually entered into the activity depicted. They even considered linking to other websited that show this type of content as not permitted.

Although I strongly disagree with and protest against these rulings, the USA has such a dominant position in the internet world, that I have no choice but to comply.

Luckily, the restriction does not have an effect for websites that have no access control, supervised by creditcard companies. I still cannot link to them, but do have to mention that they include respectable institutions and charities like the Tom of Finland Foundation in L.A. and the Lesley Lohman institution in N.Y.C. So the weird thing is that as a result those companies (and myself, via a separate unlinked website) have placed that content on free access or unpayed password control access sites, which ironically only makes access to minors much easier, which is just the opposite of what we and even George W. want.

Another institution, the Greasetank website, set up by Ron, gave a platform to a group of artists that focussed on S&M and aggression in male art. Sadly, the group moderator gave way, as he wanted to move on to other subject matter and could not at the same time hold the fort against hostile and hypocrit attitudes in his native country. This website does support the alternative web home that has been set up for this community since, although we are not at liberty to mention its web adress, we are confident that you will be able to find it through the services of google and others or through mailing me.

After the demise of the above mentioned website in september '06, the art section of Nightcharm in '04 and Museo del Gayo in '03, I'm afraid Delftboys/queerart is the only website left that tries to keep up a service giving a broad overview of almost all that comes around in the field of homo-erotic art and male physique. I do hope that with the upturn in economy and the prospect of a more tolerant administration in the USA, the future of this website will brighten up.

Delft, summer 2006

While the world football championships rage on in Germany, a lot of us enjoy the great bodies of the competing teams that flow into our livingrooms in abundance. A lot of guys of the homoseksual persuasion however do not have a lot of attention for this and many other sports. Only a few sports have that special touch to make them attractive to gay men. To watch I only name swimming, gymnastics, rowing, wrestling, weightlifting. To do themselves most stick to volleybal over here, some indeed swim (like me), but most don't go any further then some obligatory excercise at a gym. Luckily some take this a lot further to make their bodies a work of art for all to enjoy. I also feel that performing in porn movies can be considered a healy sport, if performance and shape enhancing stimuly are kept to a sensible level.

Working with your eyes, hands and brain to produce artwork does not do too much for the physique, sadly. Also it is not very rewarding as a professional sport, unless you have the good fortune to work for a major publisher or have the talent and communicative skills to sell to the open market, be it through e-bay or galleries or through a dedicated website. Most of our talents are less fortunate, though. Some are even working in a social climate that is downright hostile to what they do.

The homo-web-museum foundation is finally in a situation where it can support some of those endangered talents. It already has motivated one of them to return to the easel, as soon as surgery to his disabilitating shoulder injury is completed.

The funds generated with the masterclass subscriptions are used solely for that purpose. The board guards that the statutes are carried out as they are drawn up.

On behalf of all artists that have already benifitted and will in the future, I'd like to thank you for the support.

Delft, april 14th 2006

Since november of 2005 the responsibility for this website has effectively been taken over by a foundation. The reason behind this are the following: The website finally did make a bit of profit. That is, the collected access fees finally grew above what was used to maintain it. I started this website 5 years ago as a tribute to a dearly missed artist friend who'd passed away, and having a totally different profession, the main object never was to generate money. It was at the advice of David K, the wellknown editor and founder of nightcharm that this website did get a paying donators section, in an effort to keep control of dataflow and keeping the website online securely and without downtime as a result of uncontrolable free access. This was also done in an effort to keep in contact with the gay art community in other ways than through the commercial channels, set up by Yahoogroups and Microsoft Networks, that both proved to be all but open about their aims and were more and more showing signs of following Bush's policy of cracking down on adult content.

When the site first offered this option, I only expected it to be enough to cover expenses. But nevertheless I did remark that all profits, if and when there would be any, would be directed to the community of artists. And indeed, in the first years some small amounts did get payed for commission work to enhance the site's appearance. All this time I knew that if indeed a charity to promote an un-biassed approach to homo erotic and the community that produced these works would be the base of the website, I should get a group of artist friends, politicians and legal experts to set the organisation up.All this has been worked on over the past year and is now firmly in place. As the foundation is based in the Netherlands the statutes of it are in Dutch, but an exerpt of them in english is available here.

At the end of the year I hope to be able to give a first report on our accounts here and show in what ways we've been able to further our goals.

Delft, october 12th 2004

This website is based in the Netherlands, known for it's tradition of tolerance. I would very much like to keep it that way. But I'm afraid on internet, a bordercrossing super-international medium, some things are not that simple:

With that in mind I tried to implement our tradition on this website, in the modest Dutch way, we as a small country are so used to; showing respect for others culture, traditions and values. Not trying to push things; ramming our ways across others' porcelain cabinets: I know the Chinese have different ways of approaching homosexuality, so do the peoples of Saoudi Arabia and of the United States of America. I also know that however different life may be around the globe, there are homosexuals in each and every culture and society. I would like to adress them in as much an open and uninhibited way as possible and share with those who appreciate it some of what makes it so beautiful to me. I do with all that is published here stay firmly within what Dutch law has decreed. It is founded on what legislators that I and my countrymen have elected thought best. I respect their judgement, even if I do not always agree. Realising that laws and customs in other countries may be different, I have on critical points placed warnings, so that guys who are not used to our liberal thinking will not be hurt or offended.

Unfortunately the current US governement feels it has a mission to export and even impose the values it holds on all other nations around the globe. They have pressured creditcardcompanies to play the role of censors to this site. For the moment I will yield to their power. And place the content they feel should not be on this site on a free Dutch webservice. It is ironic that instead of keeping the alledged undecent content under lock and key, this action in fact makes it easier accessible.

So from october the 15th some pages will no longer be accessible here. I canot even place a link to where they will be moved. I can only say, mail me for details. If you feel with me this is an unwelcome infringement on your personal freedom, you do know what to vote in the coming US presidential election, to help gain respect for for your country and make it less hated around the world. I really do hate as a foreigner to interfere with your elections, guys, but as your current president tries to rule things we'd much rather decide for ourselves, and were doing in agreement with all others countries perfectly nicely for 500 years, so long before your country even existed, I'm left with no choice.

Do previous lines imply we Dutch never disagreed or were at war with other countries? Hope not, that would be historicaly incorrect.

Delft, march 21st 2004

I know there is a limited use to these pages, and there are fields where it's wiser not to tread. So, I warn you in advance: I'm stepping into a minefield again, but a guy has to do what a guy has to do.

I'm not in the habit of commenting on colleagues, operating in the erotic-art field, but our friends over at the Male Art Toons Yahoo-site are stepping down some dangerous paths. I hear you say: direct your comments to them, and members of the group can confirm, I tried to do just that, but if the moderators of the group are painting you into a marginal corner, ridiculing serious and well meant critique, not only mine but others too, I must look elsewhere to vent my comment.

Some artists have expressed a wish not to be shown on these free groups, and the moderators have placed them on a banned list, which they try to adhere to as good as they can. So far so good. A discussion however has cropped up about the rights of artists to decline free distribution channels. And terms are used that show very little respect for these artists. The guys scanning and copying about on MAT feel it is their good right to distribute, while clearly it is not. Some even go about saying: it may be illegal, but catch us if you can. All of this sends them down a path of ever decreasing respect for artists and with it they cut off the hands that feed them. The climate on MAT has grown very aggressive of late and I fear for my own activities now: I have been warning a lot about the directions they're taking, but mass-group-psychologie works in dangerous ways: we all know the messenger gets blamed. And if soon yahoo takes action on behalf of artists who feel they are wronged, they will certainly come around blaming me. Let me tell you here and now: I will NEVER initiate such actions, as long as there is still ONE good willing person left in that group. in Yahoogroups the moderators make the rules and it's: like it or leave it. I can live with that. The last straw that made me opt for leaving is the following: The moderators have decided they are the autority on what is art and what is not and also have set a standard to what is child porn and what's not. Their standard is not mine. Little boy angels on church ceilings are not child porn, nor are depictions of the beauty of awakening sexuality in young guys. We may tread on a slope here, but by no means did we fall into the ravine:
In my book there is no talk of child porn when artwork shows images of mutually consenting guys in a respectfull way. Bernard does just that in an amazing graphic style and deserves our admiration for doing so. His work should not be pulled into the realm of criminality and mis-use of minors that rightfully are considered illegal. I only do not like a witchhunt, based on histeria to start. We have all seen in history they do more damage then good and will only appear to solve things: Art suffers, freedom suffers, rational thinking suffers and the real criminal is just going one step more underground. My friend Bernard has moved from Africa to the Netherlands because he expected the climate to be more tolerant here. I wish it could stay that way. Gay groups moving ever closer to the opinions of religious right are not helping, and I feel it is they who are getting dangerously near the ravine. Adjusting your own rules to survive mass hysteria did not prove to be a usefull strategy in the first half of last centure. Even more distastefull is pointing your finger to guys within your own minority saying: they are worse than me. It will not work this time either.

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Delft, januari 9th 2004

The last words written here 3 months ago:
oh well, just never mind,
I already decided to keep things within NL.

But as things were going nice and smoothly, I did not do much about that. Knowing that it was still a US company that processed the financial transactions. Also knowing how the US web-industry has tightened its rules last year and tried to enforce the us standards on us all. It was to be expected that things could not go on this way and, as David K already predicted, indeed the company blocked new payments from januari 7th.
Now let me first say, before I anger some people unnecessary: I do respect the fact that the US tries to make this world a better and safer place, athough I do not always agree with some of the ways they go about it. Freedom of speech and thought however is a great good, which should not be thrown overboard in efforts to make things safer.
We know that the anglo-saxons have a much more prudish attitude towards sexuality as us continental europeans. As I try to understand the feelings and beliefs of the English speaking world, I do also ask for a bit of understanding in return from you guys on the other side of the Atlantic for the more liberal approach we here treasure and hold dear.

For the moment I cannot process any new passwords, but I did take steps to get a Dutch firm to process the password-payment-routines. Details will be online on the entrypages as soon as they're operational. Of course the current visitors of the masterclass will continue to have unrestricted access and nobody will get struck off untill the new routines are settled in, even if the registration may have expired (so something good comes out of this if you registered in the past 2 months).
Also new content will continue to be added in the way you regulars have come to expect.

have a fantastic erotic and safe 2004

Delft, october 1st 2003

The last 2 editorials had a depressing undertone, Today, I'm much more triumphant. It has been an "I told you so" month, as both Yahoo and the MSN network clamped down on their free services. Forced by the US moral majority and Whitehouse campaigns to enforce the family values of Mr Bush and friends down the throat of the rest of the world, and thus making the USA a very questionale and selective defender of fundamental freedom.

Yahoo and MSN cannot do much about it I'm afraid, apart from advising you not to vote for hypocrits in the future. Why is it that Hollywood is allowed to export idealised violence and aggression while when I try to get a US based company to take care of my password and payment administration I get this:
Dear Webmaster,
The following page about Oliver Frey is not in compliance with our AUP. Unfortunately we cannot bill for sites that display bloodshed and gore in any medium. If you are willing to remove the offending content we can install the billing software on your site.
Thanks, etc.

Now I ask you?
1st:
We let the US export movies showing practices in nice detail of guys like Jeffrey Dahmer? what's the problem then with fantasy depictions of the beauty of voluntarily S&M acts?
2nd:
The billing company does not make the rules, so maybe I should not be too harsh, but they are setting the fine line: by keeping my kind of content (showing the diversity, beauty and extent of fantasy) out they defend the regular content: bigdicked US hunks getting it off with each other is fine, they're promoting the quality and quantity of proteine and hormones in US meat. That kind of male video product has obviously established itself as a legitimate part of the Hollywood package and must be defended by keeping out guys who might throw new oil on the moral indignation fire?
3rd:
thought I was dealing with guys who are familiair around Adult sites, The irony is they made a problem about a page where Oliver Frey (cute, sweet, vanilla, eh well, artist) and his problems with UK's censorship in the eighties were discussed. Even more insane: The images concerned were made in Frey's pre-gay period, when he worked for the computergame magazine Crash, which was AIMED at KIDS, and nobody objected then! If they would have objected to RJ Blake's genitorture, Willem Kok's extreme sm, Martin's dirtywork or Bernards too young and too erotic angels I wouln't have agreed, but they would have had a point. But objecting to the gladiatorscenes in Frey's images?

oh well,
just never mind,
I already decided to keep things within NL. and don't mind not having to share the revenue; if they don't want it?
So remember: these pages come from Continental Europe!

Delft, august 1st 2003

The strartup editorial had a bit of a depressing undertone, like 'the introduction of a pay-password on the site was inevitable' It's still online below here, as it is the best way I can put a policy statement for the website across. Here I'd like to chat a bit about a more casual issue, important nevertheless:

Screen resolution:
We've all learned to live with varied screensizes. Some of our tv channels (like the BBC) have changed fully to widescreen (16:9) while others (CNN, discovery) stick with the old format (4:3). The result is that widescreen viewers get a lot of black bars at the sides of their screen and oldscreen viewers have a lot of them above and below. Of course there are ways around this, but they still have a lot of side-effects that bother the critical user, like the distortion of the image with automatic sizing, where heads at the side of a screen get incredibly fatty.
Anyway, with pc's the options are even wider than the two resolutions broadcast tv now has. Desktop screens have over the years grown from 10 " to 21 or 23 ". Where a few years back most people were behind a 14 " screen it is now mostly 17 ". If you check the old pages I made 4 years ago you'll see the images were a lot smaller. I've no intention of redoing all old pages however; the site is a living/evolving project, but the newer pages do try to adhere to what is the norm now, but have even gone beyond:
This week I reformatted the C-drive of my main workstation and started out with the old resolution of 1024 pixels width. Which is the most used width worldwide. I must say that a lot of new pages do require a lot of sidescrolling, although most images DO fit if you hit the F11 key. I do want to give the accasional treat to my elitist, but dearly treasured, large-screen-user friends of an impressively detailed image going way past the average screenlimits. So please accept my appologies for the laptop users or the visually handicapped.

Delft, july 1st 2003:
Why should I pay for this site while I can download a lot of the images here for free at MSN- or YahooGroups? I hear you ask . . .

Well for one these groups are not really free, they serve an awfull lot of commercials before you get to the artwork, and your service-provider, i.e. you yourself, does pay for the dataflow that induces.
Further they do not care about the art treasures we cherish and delete files when serverlimits are reached leaving you without any control.
And most important:
These companies are the most modern way of American Imperialism: they export American, or Anglo-Saxon morality, to us Europeans who much rather do without, thank you very much.
We here are pretty fond of our laid-back approach to sexuality and are appalled by the hypocritical, neurotic, crime inducing double standards we get imposed on us from across the ocean.

Not only through multinational (web)companies we get US standards forced down our throats: The whitehouse managed to convince our governement that the age of people being photographed nude should be 18. The Dutch age of consent being fixed at 16, we now have the weird situation that we are allowed to have sex with a guy of 16 but not to photograph him.
This would never have happened if Pim Fortuyn had not been killed and was prime minister here. The most outspoken gay politician èver invited Maroccan boys who asked if his crotch was as cleanshaven as his skull on primetime-tv to come check at his bedroom if that was the case.

anyway,
It would be nice if this website works as a barricade against this form of self-denial and filter through all the good stuff some great minds in the US still produce that has every reason to be exported across the Atlantic.

A donation not only gives you access to huge fast-loading art-archives without a single ad, it also helps us to make a stand.

I have always felt access to art, even, or especially, homo-erotic art, should be free, but as most musea and all websites have abandoned that credo, it's like me trying to be more catholic than the pope: the idea has become irrealistic.

It's june 2003 and another set of changes need to be made. Not taking away from what I said earlier about ripping off and honesty, the db-site cannot continue to grow and expand if it keeps the semy professional status it now has. For the first time I feel I no longer have to shy away from the word museum. The homo-art collection keeps growing and it seems that's what you all want to see.

David K, editor and brain behind nightcharm, the commerial homo site I admire most, had this to say:
One thought I had while perusing the areas of your site that are password protected, is that you should DEFINITELY set things up differently with your online projects; so as to accept credit card payments, etc (as I do w/the Inner Circle). You're doing way too much work, and have waaaaay to much to offer folks. If you give away so much for nothing or very little, people won't appreciate that. What you've collected is astounding; truly -- and serves as a fantastic form of queer art appreciation and history. Rethink your sites and start CHARGING !

So it is time to take the final step: on july 1st '03 the free access password will be phased out, the previewpages will expand and the masterclass will get a professional entrance with options for direct creditcardpayment (some weeks later), the content will be structured clearer, navigation more functional. As I knew, or loved some of the artists personally, or have gotten to know 'm through this project, respect and admiration for those masters with incredible gifts to visualise erotic fantasies of yours and mine stays the fundament on which the site is based.

respect for artists also means that if we want them to keep producing fulltime they must be able to live respectfully. And so must I: now research, selecting, adapting, editing, presenting, administrating this operation is gradually becoming (more than a) fulltimejob. Sure you can get stuff for free on the web, but then you take the innundation with pop-ups, advertisement, spam for granted. On db there's just the artwork, displayed in web-optimised formats that you will not find anywhere else.

It still is all about realizing dreams . . .
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