Penis and Vagina - Drawings and Clay Sculptures
DRAW A PENIS AND VAGINA, c. 1974-76
My earliest forays into interactive conceptual art involved written language, but I soon began to ask people to make drawings. My first subject was ‘Draw a House, Tree and Person,” a standard projective drawing test used by psychologists. This was followed by the provocative series of penis and vagina drawings that started in 1974, and eventually numbered close to 100 examples by participants of all ages. Although the art dealer Ivan Karp deliberately excluded the series from my second show at OK Harris, these drawings are by far the most viewed section of the 98 Bowery site.
MAKE THEM WITH CLAY
Make A Penis And Vagina Out Of Clay
New York, c. 1974
Video by Paul Tschinkel
"Make a Penis and Vagina Out of Clay" extended the penis and vagina drawing series into both sculpture and performance. The catalyst was art critic Edit deAk who asked if she could bring by a group of students from a midwest university who she was escorting on a tour of the New York art world. The students proved to be eager participant/subjects.
After I explained Conceptual Art and the subject of the piece, Jim Cobb, a ceramics instructor at Hunter College, gave some rudimentary lessons on how to manipulate the clay. Paul Tschinkel videotaped as the students went to work creating their clay genitalia. The event culminated with interviews in which each participant explained the process that went into their unique creations.
