Bathroom Piece, 2016

live performance/mixed media installation

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Inspired by bell hooks' "Being the Subject of Art", I knelt inside of a bathroom while, one by one, gallery goers came in and chose whether or not to insert a phallus into my mouth. I was exploring consent within the gallery and the inherent sexualization of queerness. By being penetrated, I was castrated of masculinity. The bathroom setting was a reference to gay hookup culture. I wanted to question traditional attitudes toward the "transgression" of penetration, objectifying the penetrating tool and re-contextualizing the action in a non-sexual environment.