New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008
Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.
She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.
Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.
Even with the explanation, I'm still not sure I get it. Anyone?
2 comments:
You just beat me to posting it (although I do get to preen that I called hoax before most bloggers and reporters, heh). I like the fact that the press release highlights ethical standards, since that's not something we generally consider when it comes to art - should/does art have ethical standards to follow? To my knowledge, artists don't have to go through an IRB if they want to use human fluids/wastes/etc in their art projects.
So this might not be real (and while I was hopeful it was a hoax and would like to believe it, I'm also not convinced Yale has any way of knowing save her word, which technically has already been put into question), but that doesn't mean it won't be real.
I still want to read the artist statement. I'm going to call the gallery in the morning and see if I can get it sent over.
I'm afraid that this artistic stunt is going to hurt pro-choicers for a bit. We've long been arguing that making abortions illegal does not reduce the number of abortions, and that keeping abortion legal does not mean that it will be done lightly. Of course, you could make the argument that this project highlights how absurd the 'women will just get abortions for kicks if we let them' is, but I'm not sure that will be the way this project will be remembered.
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