Five Rigged Questions with Miles Greenberg
All tied up and surrounded by robot arms, meet the frisky Montréal-born performance artist Miles Greenberg. During rehearsals for his latest shibari-happy durational performance at Amsterdam’s Stedelijk Museum, we asked what it takes to be a living sculpture — and some s-e-x questions, of course.
You’re going to be strung up for seven hours. Do you practice abstinence before a durational performance?
I’m going to nerd out for a second… I recently read a study that cumming in and of itself has zero observable impact on athletic performance. The effects are only tangible in subjects who believe it will. Whichever belief the subject holds will become the result nine times out of 10. I think that’s so cool! Anyway, for me, it depends on the piece. I was going to abstain this week, but Amsterdam said otherwise.
Your work often deals with mythological and religious icons — who’s the hottest figure in your eyes and why?
Saint Sebastian is the obvious classic for the Abrahamic religions, but there’s a lot more sex in the Greeks. I think the dad of Icarus, Daedalus, is kinda hot in some depictions, but that may just be because it’s also the name of my favorite sex club in São Paulo. Honourable mention: Ṣàngó, the thunder god from Yoruba mythology. Absolute trade.
What’s your most controversial turn-on?
Embarrassingly douchey colognes… I can totally get behind the whole natural smell thing, but there’s also something about a Paco Rabanne monstrosity from airport duty-free that makes me go crazy.
For a recent sculptural work you 3D scanned an orgy. In your opinion, how many people in a group sex context is too many?
It entirely depends on the setting. I’ve always been a huge fan of group sex, and for me, the key is to be able to vary the experience over the course of an orgy by going in and out of different rooms — and you have to have a smoking area! If it’s a hotel, you need a balcony, non-negotiable. Personally, I prefer to travel, but I’ve hosted a handful. Fun fact: my apartment in Chinatown was briefly rented by Sir Ian McKellen before me, and allegedly — according to my landlord — there was a story of him getting busted for hosting raucous orgies. One time, some guys ended up fucking on the fire escape and they got shut down, but he got off easy because the cops were like, ‘Oh, it’s Gandalf!’ It could all be fabricated for all I know, but my place is blessed with very good orgy karma.
What’s the biggest difference between sex and performance art?
In both cases, if it’s good, you might see God.
‘Flaying of Marsyas’ by Miles Greenberg is on show today, 13 November 2025, at the Stedelijk Museum until 18:00 CET.