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“It is not
in life, but in art that self-fulfillment is to be found.”
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> This quote, taken from George E.
Woodberry, resonates with truth that one encounters in Chrissy Caviar, an installation formerly at The Aldrich Museum of
Contemporary Art, now made accessible through
href="http://www.chrissycaviar.com/">www.chrissycaviar.com.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Under the “General Information” section
on her website, Chrissy Conant explains the technical basis for her idea.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> “I have arranged for glass jars, lids
and labels to be manufactured and supplied, as well as customized, glass
specimen tubes complete with caps. I have also contracted an embryologist, who
packaged each egg for me at an IVF lab under the proper, sterile conditions.
He, in turn, introduced me to an endocrinologist, who prescribed a month’s
worth of injectable hormone treatments, and tracked my progress with
ultrasound, and blood tests, so that during ovulation, I produced approximately
twelve eggs instead of the typical single egg, of a normal ovulatory cycle.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> My eggs were gathered and used to make
art, not embryos. The final product, the artist’s eggs, are packaged much the
way caviar would be- glass container and all. The artist, a brave and extremely honest woman, allows her
medical, educational and family history to be displayed on the website, much
like the art itself. This is just
one way that she allows the audience to connect to her work.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Another way in which someone can relate
is through the whopping metaphor she serves up when she makes a parallel
between human eggs and caviar.
While perhaps a little shocking on first consideration, the idea of
making ones eggs available for “consumption” is a grand social commentary on
what dating and mating amounts to for a thirty-something woman.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> After all, people are judged all the
time by their genetics, the obvious manifestation of this being appearances,
the not so obvious being the ability to successfully reproduce.
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Is genetic partnership, i.e. marriage
with the intention of starting a family, the most brutal of judgments?
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> Conant writes: “In the context of fine
art, using my genes as a commodity, I am making art with my body, by
collaborating with technology. And I am trying to manifest, and be productive
with, my highly emotional desires to find Mr. Right, and create a family
together.”
Is Conant
in fact trying to reverse society’s judgment of her by being as honest as
possible? Is she arguing that
genetic characteristics are unable to be faked, while physical ones like hair
or eye color can be? Furthermore, what
effect does this have on someone who wants to find a partner to start a family
with? And finally, though you can
end an ill-fated relationship, can you ever really separate yourself from your
own DNA?
style=’mso-tab-count:1′>
Angela
Davis once said, “Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the
objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the
intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel
people toward social emancipation.”
Perhaps the cutting edge nature of this project influenced the amount of
media attention it received.
Publications like ARTFORUM, The Financial Times, and The New York Times
style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’> have all taken notice of Conant’s
original idea. While some have
suggested that the art deals with the “commercialization of reproduction” (ARTFORUM
style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’>, October 2002), it is ultimately a
personal interpretation. William Zimmer, of The New York Times
style=’font-size:8.0pt;font-family:Verdana’> writes: “An advertising sign
reproduced on the jar lids leaves no doubt about what the artist is after. If
this advertising for a mate is a satire, it’s an elaborate one.”
style="mso-spacerun: yes"> If nothing else, a quick visit to
Conant’s website gives the audience a chance to understand why this art isn’t
just about packaging. |
