Since several people have asked... I really mean it, pay what you can if $20 is too much.
A few people have commented on the price. I decided on $20 because that's something like what a play costs. And, even though many volunteers have helped me and are helping me (for which I am very grateful), I have also spent lots of money on this project and have not been able to pay myself back. I also haven't really worked since April and will not be eligible for maternity benefits. I'm not doing this to make money but if it happens, it would be helpful.
At the same time, I don't want to turn anyone away. So there you go: $20 or pay what you can.
Ecofeminist, inconvenient prophet, artist, activist, cancer survivor, mother. Radical vulnerability on behalf of the collective. Using nakedness—literal+figurative. Processing my pain.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Big Month
I'm about to do two Human Body Project events. And then I'll have a baby. I'm sick though, and worse, my daughter is sicker than I've ever seen her... so I'm not able to think too much about the events or the baby. I hate it when Claire is sick. First of all, it's scary to see a kid who NEVER naps no matter how sick she is, sleeping so much (for a week!). She has been running a fever. She has been coughing and her nose is running. The doctor says her lungs, ears and throat are fine and that it's good sign that she usually perks up when given kids' medicine. But I am FREAKED OUT. Especially today because the Motrin did not perk her up.
I also get freaked out that she is sensitive/sickly like me and I wish her a better constitution than my own freakishly fragile one.
And whatever evil virus this is, I feel like I may have it too (it's hard to tell with the continuous pregnancy poisoning illness). For my new year's resolution I would like to develop a better attitude to setback.
I also get freaked out that she is sensitive/sickly like me and I wish her a better constitution than my own freakishly fragile one.
And whatever evil virus this is, I feel like I may have it too (it's hard to tell with the continuous pregnancy poisoning illness). For my new year's resolution I would like to develop a better attitude to setback.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Press Release
8-Months Pregnant Mother Goes Bare For Art and Humanity
Calgary, Green Fools Theatre, January 13, 2007
Lethbridge, Bowman Arts Centre, January 5, 2007
“We live in what we all now understand is a scarily vulnerable and interconnected world. Yet we have no real idea how to deal with that—myself included. My project is about expanding our comfort zone,” says award-winning Lethbridge artist Tasha Diamant, creator of the Human Body Project, the first event of which was staged in March. Adds Diamant: “I truly believe we will get nowhere until we all understand viscerally, not intellectually, our own and our collective vulnerability. We don’t really get it. Look at how we close ourselves off, look at how we treat ourselves and each other, look at how we treat the Earth.”
For the Human Body Project, Diamant has committed to staging annual or more frequent events in which she stands naked and invites people to come be with her in this vulnerable state. The event takes place in silence but participants have the choice of speaking into a microphone or using art and writing materials to express themselves. The last event has been well documented by Diamant on her website, humanbodyproject.com. Upcoming Human Body Project events will take place in Lethbridge on Friday, January 5, 2007, and in Calgary, on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Diamant will be in her ninth month of a difficult pregnancy.
“I knew when I found out I was pregnant that I wanted my pregnant body to be part of my project,” says Diamant. “If you’re addressing the issue of vulnerability, as I am, pregnancy adds a deeper layer.”
About the whole naked body thing, she offers: “People are so accustomed to viewing the bodies of others as objects and their own with shame or criticism. But I am not presenting myself as an object. I don’t pose; I’m actually very uncomfortable about my body being seen. I’m 45, I’m not a model, I’m flabby—it’s not about exhibitionism or beauty. I present myself to represent what we all are. Like every other human creature, I live in this fragile physical package.”
She adds: “Unfortunately there are still attitudes out there that see nakedness as obscene.” At Diamant’s first Human Body Project event in Lethbridge, a plainclothes policewoman, acting on complaints from the community about nudity, was one of the 70+ attendees. “The policewoman left and said, ‘That was beautiful.’”
Maybe it seems strange that a relatively ordinary mother—Diamant teaches at Lethbridge Community College and lives with her husband, her daughter, two dogs and two cats—would choose to take on such a project. But Diamant says she feels a deep sense of urgency: “Particularly as a mother, I feel I need to do whatever I can do to move humanity forward and I need to believe it’s possible. I want my children, and all children, to live in a better, safer world. None of us will be okay until we’re all okay.”
Calgary, Green Fools Theatre, January 13, 2007
Lethbridge, Bowman Arts Centre, January 5, 2007
“We live in what we all now understand is a scarily vulnerable and interconnected world. Yet we have no real idea how to deal with that—myself included. My project is about expanding our comfort zone,” says award-winning Lethbridge artist Tasha Diamant, creator of the Human Body Project, the first event of which was staged in March. Adds Diamant: “I truly believe we will get nowhere until we all understand viscerally, not intellectually, our own and our collective vulnerability. We don’t really get it. Look at how we close ourselves off, look at how we treat ourselves and each other, look at how we treat the Earth.”
For the Human Body Project, Diamant has committed to staging annual or more frequent events in which she stands naked and invites people to come be with her in this vulnerable state. The event takes place in silence but participants have the choice of speaking into a microphone or using art and writing materials to express themselves. The last event has been well documented by Diamant on her website, humanbodyproject.com. Upcoming Human Body Project events will take place in Lethbridge on Friday, January 5, 2007, and in Calgary, on Saturday, January 13, 2007. Diamant will be in her ninth month of a difficult pregnancy.
“I knew when I found out I was pregnant that I wanted my pregnant body to be part of my project,” says Diamant. “If you’re addressing the issue of vulnerability, as I am, pregnancy adds a deeper layer.”
About the whole naked body thing, she offers: “People are so accustomed to viewing the bodies of others as objects and their own with shame or criticism. But I am not presenting myself as an object. I don’t pose; I’m actually very uncomfortable about my body being seen. I’m 45, I’m not a model, I’m flabby—it’s not about exhibitionism or beauty. I present myself to represent what we all are. Like every other human creature, I live in this fragile physical package.”
She adds: “Unfortunately there are still attitudes out there that see nakedness as obscene.” At Diamant’s first Human Body Project event in Lethbridge, a plainclothes policewoman, acting on complaints from the community about nudity, was one of the 70+ attendees. “The policewoman left and said, ‘That was beautiful.’”
Maybe it seems strange that a relatively ordinary mother—Diamant teaches at Lethbridge Community College and lives with her husband, her daughter, two dogs and two cats—would choose to take on such a project. But Diamant says she feels a deep sense of urgency: “Particularly as a mother, I feel I need to do whatever I can do to move humanity forward and I need to believe it’s possible. I want my children, and all children, to live in a better, safer world. None of us will be okay until we’re all okay.”
Monday, December 4, 2006
Claire is 5
My beautiful daughter is five years old today. Being her mom is the best thing that ever happened to me. There is one unproblematic area in my life: being Claire's mother. My healer Betty says that we can always find our own issues by noticing the issues we have with our kids. By this estimation, I am perfect, because I always think Claire is perfect even when she's crabby or naughty. (I am not a pushover mom, I just get that when a kid is acting out, there's always a reason. And, unlike in other areas of my life, I don't take it personally.)
I find it difficult to understand how anyone cannot believe in some kind of divinity if they are a parent. To me, Claire is so obviously a miraculous little chunk of God. By extension, so must I be--which is one reason why I keep working toward recovering awareness of that for myself.
Her joy and openness are such a source of joy for me--sometimes my only source. Her intelligence and empathy amaze me. Her observations open my own eyes. I admire her determination. I am thoroughly taken with her brightness. She is such a beaming little being. I just think she is an utterly delightful person.
Everyday, still, I can't believe that I, Tasha Diamant, messed up person, can be so lucky as to be the mother of Claire! Yes, I have heavy karma but I have also been rewarded in this life. To me our kids are such an unbelievable gift, such a path straight to God. I have loved men in my life but nothing compares to how I love my daughter. The love songs have it wrong.
I feel really lucky because I don't think mother-love or parent-love is necessarily easy. But it is for me.
I find it difficult to understand how anyone cannot believe in some kind of divinity if they are a parent. To me, Claire is so obviously a miraculous little chunk of God. By extension, so must I be--which is one reason why I keep working toward recovering awareness of that for myself.
Her joy and openness are such a source of joy for me--sometimes my only source. Her intelligence and empathy amaze me. Her observations open my own eyes. I admire her determination. I am thoroughly taken with her brightness. She is such a beaming little being. I just think she is an utterly delightful person.
Everyday, still, I can't believe that I, Tasha Diamant, messed up person, can be so lucky as to be the mother of Claire! Yes, I have heavy karma but I have also been rewarded in this life. To me our kids are such an unbelievable gift, such a path straight to God. I have loved men in my life but nothing compares to how I love my daughter. The love songs have it wrong.
I feel really lucky because I don't think mother-love or parent-love is necessarily easy. But it is for me.
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