2008 Woodie Awards
Art project stirs up abortion controversy
By: U- WIRE
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Campus
PRINCETON, N.J. - Yale University senior art major Aliza Shvarts has caused an uproar at Yale and on online media outlets across the globe after The Yale Daily News reported Thursday that Shvarts' senior art project involved her impregnating herself and inducing abortions "as often as possible" during a nine-month process.
Though Yale University spokeswoman Helaine Klasky released a statement later that day calling Shvarts' project a "creative fiction," Shvarts disputed the statement in an updated story on the YDN website Thursday night, labeling Klasky's statement "ultimately inaccurate."
Shvarts told the YDN Thursday night that during a nine-month period, she used a needleless syringe to insert semen into herself. At the end of each month, she took abortifacient herbs to induce bleeding, though it is unclear whether the bleeding was from an actual miscarriage.
To back up her claims, Shvarts showed the YDN clips of the footage that will be shown as part of her project.
"The tapes depict Shvarts -- sometimes naked, sometimes clothed -- alone in a shower stall bleeding into a cup," the YDN reported.
Shvarts is defending the project as real, though she is not sure whether she was ever pregnant.
"No one can say with 100-percent certainty that anything in the piece did or did not happen," Shvarts told the YDN, "because the nature of the piece is that it did not consist of certainties."
Klasky's statement claimed that Shvarts told three Yale officials, including two deans, that she did not actually perform the procedures originally outlined in the YDN.
"Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns," the statement said, explaining that "the entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman's body."
Shvarts did not disclose the sources of the semen used for her project, though she did say that the individuals "were not paid for their services" and were regularly tested for sexually transmitted infections.
Though Yale University spokeswoman Helaine Klasky released a statement later that day calling Shvarts' project a "creative fiction," Shvarts disputed the statement in an updated story on the YDN website Thursday night, labeling Klasky's statement "ultimately inaccurate."
Shvarts told the YDN Thursday night that during a nine-month period, she used a needleless syringe to insert semen into herself. At the end of each month, she took abortifacient herbs to induce bleeding, though it is unclear whether the bleeding was from an actual miscarriage.
To back up her claims, Shvarts showed the YDN clips of the footage that will be shown as part of her project.
"The tapes depict Shvarts -- sometimes naked, sometimes clothed -- alone in a shower stall bleeding into a cup," the YDN reported.
Shvarts is defending the project as real, though she is not sure whether she was ever pregnant.
"No one can say with 100-percent certainty that anything in the piece did or did not happen," Shvarts told the YDN, "because the nature of the piece is that it did not consist of certainties."
Klasky's statement claimed that Shvarts told three Yale officials, including two deans, that she did not actually perform the procedures originally outlined in the YDN.
"Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns," the statement said, explaining that "the entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman's body."
Shvarts did not disclose the sources of the semen used for her project, though she did say that the individuals "were not paid for their services" and were regularly tested for sexually transmitted infections.
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
It was a hoax
posted 4/21/08 @ 9:28 AM EST
According to the AP:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/ART_HOAX?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=US
David Ordorica
posted 4/29/08 @ 1:07 AM EST
Every abortion is the direct killing of an innocent human being. Since it seems impossible to know if she was ever pregnant, it seems equally impossible to know if she ever had an abortion. (Continued…)
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