A crowd-engaging installation aiming to take the intimate act outdoors in the post COVID era.
During COVID, the aspect of human interaction that may have suffered the most is intimacy, both emotional and physical. This project, ‘Why don’t we do it in the road?’ (the title of one of the many uplifting songs by Lennon & McCartney) aims to metaphorically bring the intimate act outdoors, making it accessible, safe, and even reproductive.
In one of Vienna’s squares, park, or avenue which became prime real estate during the crisis as people searched for safe open-air environments for socializing, an outstanding pedestal is going to be installed for the use of the public – free of any charge, but passion. Reminiscent of a church pulpit if you will, the pedestal will hold a metal plate - embossed with the image of an embryo. Through an act of placing a sheet of paper on the embossed - metal surface and rubbing it with graphite, passers-by of all ages, genders, and faiths will be welcomed to take part in an entirely physical though a scientifically safe act of a post-COVID baby-boom. The result will constitute an original co-creation - by the artist and the random stranger who chooses to take part - a purely love child of sorts, co-created by the fleeting yet essential passion of this artistic act.
The newborn creation (‘Frottage’, the work on paper) will leave with his new parent - for keeps.
These are, after all, the most essential duties and roles an artist is supposed to fulfill in society - to fertilize humanity and bring comfort.
In a time when we have lost so many members of our species, it is impossible to overstate the importance of creating new babies that no pandemic can destroy.This artistic concept emerged from the artistic perception of the artist as an artistic goddess of fertility – a body (of work) from which hundreds of human descendants emerge as artistic creations.
The history of this conception started out as a mail-art project in 1988 called ‘Is This Baby Yours?’ when the artist sent out hundreds of wooden boxes containing a print of an embryo, imploring the recipient to acknowledge it as its own. At the end of 2018, the next generation of the project was christened in the form of an interactive website. https://isthisbabyyours.com/main-english/
And now I hope a new generation of babies will be born from the execution of this proposal.
Dimensions: 120 cm X 56 cm.
Materials: Wood and metal. Option for internal lighting.
The type of material is open to changes so that it can withstand the different weather conditions.
