NYPOST.com: This may be one of the most amazing debuts the art world has ever seen. A pregnant Brooklyn performance artist is planing to have her baby in an art gallery in front of an audience as part of a piece examining childbirth. Called “The Birth of Baby X,” the performance will feature artist Marni Kotak turning Bushwick’s Microscope Gallery into her “birthing room” where she will spend each day until the baby comes.
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Brooklyn artist to give birth a part of performance piece
NYPOST.com: This may be one of the most amazing debuts the art world has ever seen. A pregnant Brooklyn performance artist is planing to have her baby in an art gallery in front of an audience as part of a piece examining childbirth. Called “The Birth of Baby X,” the performance will feature artist Marni Kotak turning Bushwick’s Microscope Gallery into her “birthing room” where she will spend each day until the baby comes.
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22 comments:
WAIT WHAT??? Okay to preface this I am not the biggest fan of performance art. But actually I think this is really cool (and just imagine if you were the baby). It is interesting to take such a private thing as birth and expose it to anyone that wants to come into the gallery. Also I wonder how many people actually see births in their lives and so this could potentially be a moving piece. I for see crazy art fanatics camping out or sending out mass emails and twitters decreeing that the baby is being born. This is a revolutionary idea and it is defiantly taking risks.
Just the idea of this live exhibit completely took me by surprise. It's definitely an interesting idea for an exhibit but I expect it to be met with a lot of opposition from certain groups. In my opinion this is a really neat thing for Kotak to do and further extend our boundaries for the definition of art. I agree with her justification of this as the highest form of art, seeing how life itself is the "most profound work of art. It makes sense. Personally, I don't believe I would feel 100% comfortable with seeing this exhibit, but I am intrigued by the idea.
I think this is a really interesting concept. Artists are often told that they should make their art based on what they know and their experiences, and this is taking that concept to another level. I love that artists seem to be allowing their audiences in on their personal lives much more because it makes for much more interesting art. The one thing that threw me off was at the end of the article when they mentioned that Kotak's next piece would be "Raising Baby X." I can't imagine what it might turn out to be like for a child when their whole life is their mother's piece of art. I think it's OK to allow the world to intrude on your life, but the idea of allowing the world to intrude on your child's life is another story. I'm definitely interested to find out more about this after she gives birth.
While I'm all for the idea of looking at real life as art, I really don't like the premise of this exhibit. I just feel like giving birth is a special thing and this woman is kind of exploiting her soon-to-be-born child. I do think that she is brave and I really do understand that she is trying to make a point about human life here. I would just be upset if I found out I was born that way. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has mixed feelings about this and, as Will said, I expect there to be some backlash from certain moral and even political groups. I respect this woman as an artist, but I just don't think that this is the most respectful thing for her child.
I think this is a brilliant concept. I was reluctant when reading the title but i then realized why, the writer obviously views Kotak as joke. The title could be viewed as a ay to get readers attention but what further solidifies my thoughts on the writers intention is that crack at the end of the article. Implying that Kotak would make a spin off leaves the reader with a sense of insincerity in the piece. So all in all i think this a phenomenal piece that happens to be portrayed poorly.
While out of the ordinary, the idea of having an audience for a birth isn't exactly a new idea. Queens used to give birth in front of around 70 people, but I highly doubt that was considered to be innovative or performance art.
Aside from that, I do think this is very original for our time, and it'll definitely be a story for this child when he/she is older. What I'm curious to see is how the artist will incorporate her obvious love of performance art with being a mother, and if we'll be seeing any more of Baby X as they get older.
I agree with Zoe this sounds interesting and would be fascinating to see how she does this, but I also think that i would be upset if my mother did this. It seems like an invasion of privacy. I think that the child has rights too, its just unfortunate there is no way of knowing whether the child would be okay with it.
I was taken back by this idea when I first read the article, but after I thought about it I thought this is a new innovative way to bring those that love art together. I love that Kotak says that she wanted to do this to share with people the art of life in it's purest form. This is something that you will rarely see or hear about, but something that could be a real learning experience for the way you look at life. I'm sure this is to bring up some controversy over morals and peoples beliefs, as I know it does for me. Also, as Shannon mentioned, this isn't necessarily the most respectful thing for Kotak to do for her child.
So I was all for this idea, because, as Kotak says, there are few things that are more naturally beautiful and amazing than actually giving birth to a new life. What was disturbing to me is that she is actually planning to continue this "exhibit" all through the new child's life, to college. This seems like an extremely unfair and irresponsible thing to do to your child, like the most extreme stage mom to ever exist! She's going to do a weekly podcast of the baby and then assemble it all for her planned exhibit to come, The First Year. This could be so detrimental to her baby as it grows up, it definitely seems that this is more of an exploitation for the artist's benefit. She is not taking into account that she's going to be a parent, rather, that she's going to have a baby that she is going to use as artistic material for the rest of its life. Bad!
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I can't decide how I feel about this. For one thing, it makes me uncomfortable, but on the other hand I believe that one parameter of true art is that it should make you uncomfortable and test the boundaries of what humanity is used to seeing. This woman is obviously absorbed within the culture that believes art can exist in just about anything (as am I, although I don't know if I would be able to birth a child as part of an exhibit.) And yes, some would say that she is exploiting herself by doing this, but it is her body to exploit and it is obvious that there is no one pressuring her to do this. If she believes it will fare well as performance art, then more power to her.
I don't know what to make of this really. I'm astonished! Really...giving birth on stage. Don't get me wrong giving birth is a wonderful and beautiful thing. I just personally never want to watch it and I'm a women. I think watching it would make me never watch to have children ever. A birth should be something private between the mother, the child and the doctor helping out. There could definitely be some risks involved here that I'm not sure the artist is thinking through. And what about the child? I know it can't really think yet but years down the line they may resent their mother for doing this to them. But it is an interesting and different idea.
I think this sounds amazing. Yes, birth is scary and disgusting, but it's life. As much as I never want to have children, I have real awe for anyone who does. And the fact that this woman is willing to show such a personal moment in public is amazing and really cool!
Alright I know art is all about someone’s point of view. I am a bit confused however how something as messy and tortuous as child birth will help people realize the beauty of the human form. I do appreciate the idea of this I feel like by turning child birth into a show it sort of takes away intimacy of a mother holding their child for the first time. I also worry if there are complications with the birth. Considering that about 30% of births are C-sections I worry for the health of the mother and child. I also think that the fact that she is going to continue to put her child on exhibit is troubling. I am unsure how that will affect the child in his/her later years.
This artist is pretty gutsy, and this concept is innovative. However, the concept that giving birth is an art isn’t new to anyone who has given birth themselves. The moment any living thing is born is moving and seen as a miracle is a global emotion. There’s a reason that giving birth is called ‘going into labor’ – from what I’ve heard it’s really hard physical and emotional work. This being said, I think that the fact that his artist is going to perform this physically taxing, emotionally exhausting miracle in front of an audience is the real art. What concerns me most about this event, though, are the risks. Not just to the mother/artist, but to the infant (will he/she be an artist as well?). Is it art to risk complications during the birth in order to accomplish the performance? I can’t help but hope that there happens to be a gynecologist in the audience.
I like this idea. I like art that tries to capture what is real in life. And there is nothing more real than birth. Even offering people the chance to see a newborn life is very powerful. Its interesting that she wants to share this experience with the world. As for exploiting the child for art... I don't see the difference between this and naming your child something obscure for the sake of making a statement. I would personally not be interested in giving birth this way. But I would be proud to give birth in a way that was filmed or something for scientific research or educational purposes. I would be proud and hope my child can see that it was important to me and made bringing the baby into the world more special.
And anyway, who says being born is a private matter? I can understand giving birth as an experience you'd want to share only with your partner. But on what grounds would you argue that you were exploited by being born with an audience? To a baby, a room full of relatives and doctors is no different than a room full of strangers. I can see how it might get out of hand if she wants to continue pieces involving the child for its entire upbringing. Then the child could potentially be robbed of a certain level of normality and privacy.
Interesting... I wonder if this has been done before. It certainly sounds shocking, and I wonder what sorts of concepts and ideas the "artist" has behind this. Performance art is not really my type of thing. But there is something interesting about the idea. I wonder if the baby would care about its birth when it is all grown up. I also wonder what sort of effect this will have on the mother. Its not your typical birth. So maybe I'm torn. New life is beautiful. And just the birth being an exhibit might not be the worst... but the planned extensions on the exhibit... what would that do?
It's very rare that I like performance art. A lot of times I feel that there are performers who come up with a performance art piece that is meant to "shock" the audience. But if almost every performance artist uses "shock" or "real life" as the basis of their performance, than it becomes very repetitive and dull. Maybe I just think that the fourth wall should be broken on special occasions where it really seems necessary. Giving birth to me is such a special time in someone's life. Personally, I'd want to make the experience somewhat private--share it with the ones I love. I understand her reasoning, but the fact that people will watch her give birth as part of an exhibit takes away the "special-ness" of birth for me. Watching instead of being directly connected to the birth doesn't sit well with me.
Maybe it will be great, but I really don't think it's for me.
Giving birth as a form of art is incredible to say the least. Such live performances may not have happened to this extent, but similar ones I'm sure have come up. While the article talks a lot about the preparation and other art leading up to the birth, I am most curious about afterwards. Is she really going to raise her child as performance art? Is the child to be raised as a baby x? I hope news follows this, at least in the art community, to see how this develops
wasn't really sure if i should believe this article or not. Now the act of giving birth as art but i personally think it should stop there. Raising a child as a spectacle is too much in my opinion. i don't know there isn't much to say really as to the idea of child birth as "performance art" so long as they remember that it is still a human being not just an article for spectacle
I agree with Kotak, real life really is the best performance art, since art is based on the individual's perception of real life. I admire her hutzpah for deciding to deliver in front of an audience. I'm sure there will be conflicting feelings amongst her viewers since the act of giving birth is usually much more intimate. I enjoy the fact that she has a supportive team of people to help her with this project.
This is sick.
And by "sick", I mean the definition of "radically awesome".
Giving birth is a subject that is never really talked about, in blunt detail, in our culture. Going into the graphics is frowned upon. And she's going to throw it in our face. I love it. I would go see it. I would feel uncomfortable, not because of what is actually happening, but because of what I have been raised to *think* of what is actually happening.
I hope you post follow up articles to this.
I am really curious about how many people will come and watch, how many people will try to watch secretly, and how many people will take one look and walk away. Observing the observers would be a fascinating social study in itself.
I just read the other comments, and want to address the "But what about the baby?" viewpoint.
I don't think she should continue to thrust her child at the world. I agree with Reilly that that is exploitation. But giving birth...I can't imagine that anyone who was told this is how they were born would be upset about it, after thinking it through logically. I think the mother is perfectly within her right to turn this into performance art if she wants. She is the one, after all, in the vulnerable position with her vagina ripping open, and probably pooping and urinating on the table. Why is it ok for parents to take pictures of their children without permission, and put them on facebook, but an art piece that focuses on the mother isn't? The newborn...is a newborn. She doesn't have any concept of the world. She won't care. And everyone has naked baby pictures of themselves that lots of people have seen, and no one cares, because they're a baby! Ok, almost no one cares. I think it is fine that she is choosing to do this.
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