Whatever Happened to the “Black Spark”?

The first time I heard “Tell Him,” a haunting song with beautifully-crafted and tender lyrics by Lauryn Hill, was while watching a gay “art” soft-core pornographic video. The scene this song was paired with was shot in a New York City loft, showing exposed brick walls and a man wearing a mask sitting on a bed, “enjoying” himself while watching what the viewer assumes to be porn. This odd juxtaposition somehow works perfectly, syncing this beautiful song to the video of a man masturbating. This describes one of the many projects produced by the American film director and photographer, Black Spark, and his creation – the “blacksparkproject.”

What is he known for?

There is little legitimate material available online that allows us to know much at all about this artist. According to Wikipedia, he was born on August 14, 1990, but then again, we cannot really cite this as a legitimate source.

What we do know is that this American film director and photographer continues to remain anonymous, always wearing masquerade-style face masks when featured in his own films. His hypersexualized music videos feature himself, as well as other guest stars, both masked and unmasked. In many scenes, nudity and sexual acts are implied, while in others they are completely blatant and visually exposed.

Many classify his work simply as gay porn (some remaining videos can still be found on porn sites such as Xtube), while others consider these videos an art. However, all can agree that these surreal music videos satisfy a distinct, unique niche of gay art pornography.

The Interviews

The artist has only engaged in approximately six online interviews for various gay news publications, our favorite of which is featured on out.com. In this interview, he describes his character as a superhero, with lust as his power. The question prompts are fantastic in this interview, proceeding to ask the artist what he is protecting (as most superheroes protect someone or something). Black Spark responds, stating that he is protecting creative freedom. With so much censorship in our society, he feels the need to save people from themselves, and to mix sex with substance, creating powerful messages that transcend porn in the traditional sense.

There are many “Sparks”

According to the filmmaker, there are five sparks in total, including Black Spark and White Spark, creating the yin-yang balance of his art. There is an element of romance and love exposed in his filmography, and this chemistry only exists between these two characters. Although the viewer is exposed to many characters having sex, some dressed as villains, some dressed as “sparks,” and some not wearing masks at all, the only time you encounter Black Spark engaging in sex is with one character, White Spark. Although the artist reveals that they are not dating, he does admit his love for this man, both in character and in real life.

The music

After watching several videos the viewer will pick up on one important stylistic element – there is no dialogue between characters in his shots. His videos incorporate contemporary music, both popular and obscure, but always perfectly curated for the visual content it is paired with. The artist explains that this music is meant to be the narrative, and this is why there is never dialogue between the characters.

Where did he go?

Black Spark began posting videos in the latter half of 2010, but recent work of his is nowhere to be found. His website (blacksparkandtheclouds.com) appears to be for sale with no content on it. His blog (ourblackspark.tumblr.com) has had the majority of our most loved videos taken down, however, some static images and short videos remain. One can still find some of his videos on XTube as well, but the majority of his original content is missing. In 2011 he announced that he had begun working on a feature film, however to our knowledge this project was never completed.

Does anyone know where he can be found?