Yesterday I wrote about a women here in Canada wanting to live stream her self giving birth on the internet to bring awareness about home births. Well strangely there is another women more nuts than she is! Some performance artist in New York City wants everyone to see her give birth in an art gallery and turn the whole event as an artistic performance!
Marni Kotak is a performance artist as I previously stated. She has done such performances such as re-enacting her own birth, losing her virginity, and the dark aspects of her life. She has even got her husband to take part in one of her performances called “the wedding.” But as the saying goes, “first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in the baby carriage,” It seems Kotak wants to preform that aspect in life when a baby will soon come in a baby carriage.
This whole exhibit apparently will be called “The Birth of Baby X.” Kotak has prepared a gallery in New York City with a bed and a rocking chair and she plans to stay in there to prepare for the birth. Visitors of the gallery are warned that a birth might take place during there stay.
So why??? Well, it’s all in the name of art!
I don’t even know where to start with this! I thought giving birth was a private time between the mother, and those who support her such as a partner, doctor, or midwife. Is it now the thing to make your birth public for all to see? Since when did giving birth become an artistic performance? My mind is just blown by this! If you want to do something completely off the wall, just say it’s art and does that make it ok? What the hell is art anyway? When I think of art, I think of visual arts, film, photography, spoken or written word, and sculptures. When some self proclaimed artist comes out and states that she wants to turn her birth into an artistic display, Thats not art!
Once again I ask who will sit around and watch her go into labor? I never seen a women give birth and I probably won’t until I become a father. But I am more than sure watching a women in a room giving birth isn’t at all a pleasant sight to witness. So it is then I ask… Who would actually attend this? Who would actually want to attend this art exhibit?
Based on Marni Kotak’s Resume, She was studying art from 2001 to 2006. So that makes her an artist! But if I did something ridiculously insane in the street like re-enacting what it’s like to have chronic constipation, no one would take me seriously because I’m just some random dude. Some may even go as far as saying I have mental issues. But If I have art degrees and did the same chronic constipation re-enactment on the streets, people who are in the art scene would probably take my performance seriously.
All in all, I really hope this women does not come up with more crazy ways to make her child a display of preforming art. Sadly, given her history of past performances, It probably won’t surprise me.
