One of the most intimate acts that two people can share is the art of ‘love making’, or in other words sex. This act connects people and incorporates skin on skin contact which creates chemical reactions within the body. Annie Sprinkle is a performance artist whose work centres on sex. She is possibly most famous for her performance of A Public Cervix Announcement. This involved her inviting members of the audience to look at her cervix. On her website, she states:
” I’ve given thousands of people that rare opportunity, by showing my cervix with the aid of a speculum and a flashlight to individual members of theatre audiences who stood in line by the hundreds in over a dozen countries. My “Public Cervix Announcement” has given me great satisfaction and brought enlightenment to many all around the globe” (Sprinkle 2012) .
This kind of performance requires a lot of trust from the audience as well as the performer. This is due to the fact that it is an unusual subject for a performance and some spectators may feel uncomfortable while viewing it. There was the risk of people feeling uncomfortable in our piece too. In order to detract from this feeling we adopted certain techniques, including the lava lamp the sound, and in I personally, stoked the audience’s hands to show warmth towards them. Like our piece, A Public Cervix Announcement created intimacy with the audience. However, it was a different type of intimacy to ours. Hers was more of a sensual intimacy whereas ours was more affectionate.
Works Cited
Sprinkle, Annie (2012) A Public Cervix Announcement. Online: http://anniesprinkle.org/writings-musings/a-public-cervix-anouncement/ (accessed: 6th December 2012)