But in a guest column published in Friday's student newspaper, Shvarts insisted the project was real. She described her "repeated self- induced miscarriages," although she allows that
she never knew if she was actually pregnant.
"The most poignant aspect of this representation—the part most meaningful in terms of its political agenda (and, incidentally, the aspect that has not been discussed thus far)—is the impossibility of accurately identifying the resulting blood," she said.
"Because the miscarriages coincide with the expected date of menstruation (the 28th day of my cycle), it remains ambiguous whether ... there was ever a fertilized ovum or not. The reality of the pregnancy, both for myself and for the audience, is a matter of reading," she wrote.
Shvarts told the newspaper she planned to display a work that consisted of a cube lined with plastic sheets with a blood-and- petroleum-jelly mixture in between, onto which she would project video footage of herself "experiencing miscarriages in her bathroom tub."
University officials said Shvarts' project included visual representations, a news release and other narrative materials. When confronted by three senior Yale officials, including two deans, Shvarts acknowledged that she was never pregnant and did not induce abortions, Klasky said.
"She said if Yale puts out a statement saying she did not do this, she would say Yale was doing that to protect its reputation," Klasky said.
Shvarts told the paper her goal was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.
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Originally Posted by Catty1
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