UTERINE PANIC PIECE (2022)
The Supreme Court ruled that abortion was legal across the United States after the Roe vs. Wade case in 1973. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned that ruling, opening the way for individual states to enact new abortion restrictions and complete bans on abortion. It is expected that over half of the states will enact these bans and restrictions. Women, particularly poor women who cannot afford to travel to states where abortion is legal, are having their rights to their own bodies taken away.
“Uterine Panic Piece” is my protest against these new restrictions and bans on abortion. It is inspired by two Fluxus-related works: 1) Alison Knowles’ “Nivea Cream Piece” (1962) in which performers rub hand cream on their hands beside a microphone, and 2) Valie Export’s “Action Pants: Genital Panic” (1969) in which Export exposed her genitalia to the audience as a protest against women being denied control of their own bodies. In my “Uterine Panic Piece” the visitor listens to the making of the sculpture and then receives the final product, taking responsibility for its future care.
This work was presented in 2022 at NonEvent (Boston), Find Out (Jamaica Plain, MA), RIB Gallery (Rotterdam), Errant Sound Gallery (Berlin), and Akouphene Festival (Geneva, Switzerland).
“Uterine Panic Piece” is my protest against these new restrictions and bans on abortion. It is inspired by two Fluxus-related works: 1) Alison Knowles’ “Nivea Cream Piece” (1962) in which performers rub hand cream on their hands beside a microphone, and 2) Valie Export’s “Action Pants: Genital Panic” (1969) in which Export exposed her genitalia to the audience as a protest against women being denied control of their own bodies. In my “Uterine Panic Piece” the visitor listens to the making of the sculpture and then receives the final product, taking responsibility for its future care.
This work was presented in 2022 at NonEvent (Boston), Find Out (Jamaica Plain, MA), RIB Gallery (Rotterdam), Errant Sound Gallery (Berlin), and Akouphene Festival (Geneva, Switzerland).