That woman is Casey Jenkins, an Australian performance artist and "craftavist" who has been performing a piece entitled "Casting off my Womb" by sitting in a gallery for 28 days as she knits from yarn that she has placed in her vagina.
Maybe I should also say that some people may be offended by this piece. It contents are of a "graphic nature" with subject material that may make people feel uncomfortable. I didn't really want to say that but I did.
Here is a video where she eloquently talks about her piece with great clarity, sensitivity, and intimacy.
For me, this is a great piece of art because it makes me feel something. There is a sensation in my heart that I can not quite describe right now. A tightness in my throat and chest. And maybe a bit of arousal. Not that this piece makes me want to masturbate or have sex, I am nowhere near the realm of that kinky at all, in fact, rather far from it, but rather it creates a bit of intimacy between myself and my own vagina. Maybe it was because as she reached out for the string to gently pull to create another casting, I found that gesture to be beautiful and gentle. Maybe it was because I found her voice to be soothing and comfortable. Maybe because a vulnerability in me related to her sitting there, pants off, on display, in a room where at the moment she is by herself. Maybe because she creates a relation between this piece and her womb, a relationship with her vagina as it is, with herself as she is, before she possibly creates a child or maybe because she doesn't. I don't know what her story will be and I don't fully know why I feel the way I do. I do hope that you won't judge me for it though. For we never really do know what is going on in anothers life, what has gone on, when we place judgement on them. Normally, those judgements are far from the truth and just a way to label something that we don't understand, or relate to the un-relatable.
Maybe I relate to it on a emotional and sexual level because I am confronting my own fertility, preparing for the future. For my infertility. I have begun doing research and making steps to freeze my eggs and it brings up a lot of emotions. This time though I want to focus mostly on this piece. I went a bit all over the place yesterday and there are many aspects of "Casting off my Womb" that deserve attention. Not only because it's beautiful but also because of the reaction that it is getting from people on the internet. A reaction that although doesn't shock me, I still find to be deeply saddening.
I have seen this piece with introductions as "Oh my gosh this is SO GROSS," "Everyday This Woman Shoves a Ball of Yarn Up Her Vagina and Then Knits with it," and "WTF VIDEO OF THE WEEK." First of all, I doubt that she "Shoves" the ball of yarn up her vagina. I imagine that she places it there. Secondly, these and comments such as "When will the rectal one be," "The things people do to get attention," " she is a nasty bitch. And not in the positive "nasty" way and not in the kinky "bitch" way," "this women is as sick as fuck......This women will have nothing to look forward to but loneliness at the end of a long selfish experiment of self awareness & lets not kid around, this nastiness was brought to you by Feminism," "She could of waxed her vagina ," further orchestrate a vagina fear that is still permeated in our society and also show a detachment that our society often had over our bodies and the bodies of others. Let me also say that these comments were written by both women and men. To call it immaturity would be correct yet to easy. In all reality, some people think its gross and don't know how to have a conversation about it so it is much easier to throw targets, call names, make fun of and question the sanity of Casey Jenkins It is much more complex than that, yet I have tried to touch the surface of it. Even though someone with a degree in feminism or something of that sorts would have a much better grasp on why this piece of art has created such strong reactions. It appears that it is very challenging for a woman to create a sexual piece without it being completely sexualized. What I mean is that once the subject uses her own body in the art piece, to be more specific, her vagina, people begin to treat her as a piece of meat and as a crazy person. If a woman does something that involves her vagina it must be sexual. I can not help but remember how in the past women who masturbated were perceived to be insane and were as a result institutionalized.
What I believe to be the original site that posted the video, SBS2 Australia on YouTube, has disabled all comments. Which is a relief and also disheartening. While one can watch and enjoy, or in the case of many, be disgusted, one need not be distracted from whatever is coming from the peanut gallery. Although, however sad those comments may be, they are also important, because they are a mirror of our society, and a reminder that there is still more progress to be made.
Do you like or dislike this piece? If so why? Does it confront any of your own ideas? Is there any art out there that is viewed as controversial that has caught your attention?
I hope you have a nice day, are kind to someone else and have someone be kind to you.
