Annie Sprinkle

Annie Sprinkle really intrigues me. She started off as a porn star as she was interested in sex and wanted to learn everything about sex, she then moved on to making art. Pretty explicit art.

In the performance piece 'Public Cervix Announcement' Sprinkle sits with a speculum in her vagina and invites the audience to look at her cervix, while shining a flashlight into her to see.

She herself says that she did not intend to subvert the gaze by demystifying the female body, but to educate a - mostly male - populace about the vagina and cervix. (and to assure them there weren't any teeth inside it)

I found the whole concept of this performance pretty cool, even though it wasn't her intention to it definitely subverted the male gaze as I found that some men were reluctant to look even though they were invited to.

This performance and the act 'Post Porn Modernist' contain acts that given a different means of production and distribution are not dissimilar from porn. Through most artists and themes I have researched I'm finding a running theme of intent and context.



http://anniesprinkle.org/a-public-cervix-anouncement/