Postage Stamp Something To Write Home about
• Performance at Flux Factory
• Link to the video (password required)
• Visible pubic hair on women is widely culturally disapproved of, considered to be embarrassing, and so is often times removed. However, some people also remove pubic hair that is not exposed, for aesthetic or other sexual reasons. It is a process that is mostly done in private spaces, like a back room in a beauty saloon. The end result is thought to seem more appealing while in a public space like a beach, swimming pool, or inside the bedroom. “Postage stamp, something to write home about” is one of the popular “styles” of Brazilian epilation of women’s pubic hair. “Brazilian waxing” is more controversial than other types of waxing because it includes the epilation of the pubic hair around the woman’s labia. This process is done with warm wax and can be a physically painful experience during and after the act. There are also health risks involved if it is not done properly, mainly the risk of infection if the procedure is done on a person with a weakened immune system. During this public waxing performance between myself and Prutha Raithatha, another artist whom I hired, the audience is going to be able to walk around, stand, sit comfortably, and enjoy refreshments. By setting up an unnerving scene of what is seemingly torture, the spectacle is revealing the process of what we conventionally see as “beauty”.By providing the audience with convenient conditions to view an agonizing performance I aim to remind them of how we numb ourselves to something brutal in order to fit in the values of our society.
• Photo Documentation by Alison Wynn
