Fires+Cancerversary Action Sun Aug 26 3-4 pm Quadra near Pandora

Fire$, tree$. $orry, not $orry.

I hope everyone who is reading this can breathe.

August 26th will mark the third anniversary of being admitted to hospital with what turned out to be Stage 4 ladybits cancer (ovarian, fallopian, too difficult to be sure).

So I'm holding a...

Cancerversary+Fires Action
Sunday, August 26
3-4pm
Quadra St near Pandora, Victoria, BC

This action will entail a performance of what I'm dubbing an Atrocity Cheer.
I'll be in my version of cheerleader garb, complete with pompoms.
All are welcome.

Facebook event

I'm still breathing.

30% to 50% of those in my schmancer boat are still alive after five years. I do plan to continue to be in that number even though I feel quite sure I landed on an incorrect planet, or at least an incorrect time period on this one. Having landed here though, I've made some heart connections and whatnot so I've gotta do the time.

To recap, I've been holding the Monthly Actions / Acts of Disruption+Resistance / Vulnerability Vigils for more than six years, doing the performance artwork under the umbrella of the Human Body Project for more than 12, and, while cancer sucked, the intense emotional pain that I've come to identify with being on the wrong planet has been a longer and harder road since about age 12 on.

When I had the idea for the Human Body Project in 2004 (it took me two years to get the courage up to be naked), the main reason I felt compelled to do the work and chose the overarching theme of vulnerability was because everything I felt was important and URGENT was nowhere to be found in any accessible discourse I could enter into.

Lately, many of the conversations that were impossible to imagine people having are finally happening in a much more open way: the severe pain and cost of capitalism; non-binary distinctions; systemic corruption, violence, racism and misogyny; the ongoing effects of colonialism; ongoing colonialism; etc. Or at least that's how it looks to me in my self-curated social media feeds.

Dots are finally being connected. Compartments are being pried open. The dark layers are becoming visible.

So I've been confused. Should I still follow the impetus that has taken me this far? Like, do I still have my unpaid, embarrassing job?! Haha.

NON-TRANSCENDENT. It recently dawned on me that this word describes my work.

It helped me realize it is still an important artistic statement in the sense that it's SUPPOSED TO BE grounding and extreme in the grinding and excruciating here and now.

I do still have my cop-magnet, buzz-kill job!

Link to Saanich News story about last month's action:
https://www.saanichnews.com/news/naked-roadside-protest-stopped-outside-camp-namegans/

Support? Hey, I recently won an award for my show Naked Ugly Dancing at the Montreal Fringe but the money from my award and ticket sales did not even cover my plane fare. If you'd like to support this work by, say, buying me the equivalent of a latte or two once a month or even once please consider checking out my Patreon site.
https://www.patreon.com/humanbodyproject

#NUD at Women's March

I'll be #NakedUglyDancing at

The Victoria Women's March
Saturday, January 20, 2018
11am-1pm
Centennial Sq (Victoria City Hall)

"We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Anyone welcome to join me dressed or un.
#NUD at Women's March Facebook event


Also, I'll be in Herstory presented by Riot Grrrls Burlesque Revue on Saturday, Feb 3. Tickets at Eventbrite  
Herstory Facebook event

Last month's action. 6th anniversary of Vulnerability Vigils/monthly actions. Photo by David Howell.

#NUD in #yyj (Oct 14 2pm "Odeon Alley")

Naked Ugly Dancing

#NUD in #yyj

Saturday, October 14

2 pm

"Odeon Alley"

700 Block of Yates St

Victoria, BC

-- Part of Open Actions Monthly

Everyone welcome.

Photo by Miyoko Caubet, #NUD in #yyj September 2017

I will ugly dance naked.

Why? •Healing ritual. •Cultural antidote. •Humanization. •I am a human canary ("in a coal mine") and Stage 4 cancer survivor. As a longtime performance artist using my own naked, vulnerable body/self, I share and create space for vulnerability. •I am dancing the ugly out on behalf of myself and my dehumanizing, destructive culture. •The casual violence of our dominant culture is systemic, structural, and we learn to tolerate it pre-verbally. So, in my art (and life), I explore purposeful, visceral vulnerability. Facebook event link

An Article from an Audience Member a Few Years Back

A few years ago, an author tried to sell this story but, shock of shocks, couldn't so she recently allowed me to post it on my blog – which is, of course, followed by mainstream news outlets and Woody Allen fans everywhere. (Not.)

People think I'm brave to deal with cancer. But cancer gives no one a choice. Every cancer sufferer is forced to be brave. 

As the person in question, I'd like to point out that I'm much braver to be the Human Body Project lady for the last 10 years. I mean, read the first paragraph.

I'd also like to connect a couple of dots. How women are supposed to look is a place of projection in a male-dominated culture, it is a way of devaluing the feminine and the necessity of dealing with vulnerability. This is at the heart of every problem we face: power and ego over love and cooperation.

Thanks to Thelma Fayle for sharing this article.

The Human Body Project

by Thelma Fayle

When she slowly steps in front of the audience, without even wearing shoes, Tasha Diamant reveals herself to be a plain-looking, naked woman with a couple of C-section scars and plenty of hair in places where the Prada girls have none. She has small sagging breasts and dimpled thighs and a pear-shaped, sturdy-looking body. 

The 49-year-old visual and performance artist seems slightly nervous in the way one might be before doing a high-dive off a cliff.  She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath and captures a dignified, but still tentative, composure. She explains to the three-dozen audience members of the Fringe Theatre Festival on an island off of the West Coast of Canada – how she came to create the Human Body Project.

“In so many facets of our lives, we forget how vulnerable we humans are,” Diamant says, “and this project reminds me.”  The mother/artist/educator explains that in spite of her discomfort, she is determined to give this unscripted 90-minute presentation at least once a year for the rest of her life. Unscripted, as she is determined to maintain an open heart and a healthy dialogue with the audience in her effort to use her body to create a visceral experience of shared vulnerability.

Before Diamant arrives on stage, a 5 ft tall cardboard cutout, depicting a naked Diamant from her first Human Body Project presentation six years ago, gives the audience a chance to stare at the life-size photo and to climatise themselves before being faced with an excruciatingly bare presence on stage.

The artist welcomes the audience to look closely at her body. She speaks quietly but with strength and walks up and down the center aisle of what was once a church and is now a venue for community presentations. “Please feel free to look at my body,” she coaches. 

Given permission, timid eyes that have been respectfully focused mostly on Diamant’s face, begin to peek below.  Diamant is everywoman – not remotely proportioned to any Barbie doll ideal.

When someone asks a question, she approaches them and warmly shakes hands.  She puts people at ease.  She helps the audience to become comfortable with a plain old, magnificent, aging body.

Her well-documented project shows her foray on stage during her full-bellied pregnancy – an experience that re-affirmed her need to talk about the collective vulnerability that our culture denies and hides in the shadows of life’s many little 21^st Century femme façades of hair-dye and implants and face-glitter and push-up bras and tattoos – just to name a few.

The more she talks the more refreshing it is to listen to her. She mourns what she sees as the “amputation of empathy and connectedness in our society”.

She talks about the impact of having children in her life. Motherhood was a powerful catalyst; only unlike many parents who quite naturally become focused on their own children to the exclusion of all else, Diamant was moved to have a larger discussion with the world through her art.

“How do you feel about your body?” an audience member asks.

“I just try not to go to that place of judgment,” she responds. The way she responds with hesitation reveals her tenuousness bordering on insecurity about her body and also her decision to direct herself away from that same insecurity that plagues almost all women who have been trained to self-hate by years of looking at magazine pictures of what women are supposed to look like but never do.

Watching Tasha Diamant’s 90-minute Fringe Festival presentation reminds me of a line in a movie called Kamataki, where a young man asks an old man if the elder thinks the woman in a magazine is beautiful. The wise elder man slowly looks at the picture and then at the young man and says:  ”I don’t know if she is beautiful”.

The Human Body Project offers its audience a chance to answer the same question as they examine a naked, intelligent and articulate 49-year-old woman.

"Is she beautiful?”

Absolutely. And unlike the Emperor who got fooled, this Empress knows she is naked and she wants you to look at her.

Diamant is a genuine, un-altered woman.

Valentine's #VulnerabilityVigils Victoria+Vancouver 2-3pm

For Valentine's Day you could take part in a long-running stand for humanity.

Please consider joining Tasha Diamant in Victoria or Emma Cooper in Vancouver. Everyone is welcome, as dressed as you choose. You can even hold your own #VulnerabilityVigil wherever you are.

#VulnerabilityVigils are part of an ongoing performance art and activism project. Among other culture-busting, creator Tasha Diamant's work is about sharing and expressing vulnerability.

At least once a month for an hour, Diamant stands naked on the street to be as vulnerable as possible.  Diamant is a 53-year-old, otherwise rather reclusive woman who uses nakedness as a statement and symbol. "You can draw parallels between the vulnerable body and vulnerable humanity and the vulnerable planet," says Diamant.

Another chilly vigil.

Because she understands that nakedness can be confrontational in our culture, as a gesture of gentleness, she and her supporters hold a sign in front of their bodies. The sign has the Extinction Symbol on it. "From a triage point of view," says Diamant, "The thing we need to know is that we are now creating a mass extinction on the planet. Like, shouldn't we do everything we can to drop everything else? But I happen to think that the violence, misogyny and poverty we're 'used to' have long indicated how messed up we are."

"Our brains need to change." Diamant believes that the only way forward is to kickstart evolution by dealing viscerally with our mutual vulnerability. Hence the vigils and her ongoing project, the Human Body Project.

Valentine's #VulnerabilityVigils 

Victoria
Tasha Diamant will hold her 43rd #Vulnerability Vigil at 
Corner of Yates and Government (same place as last month)
Saturday, February 14
2-3 pm

Vancouver
Emma Cooper will hold a #VulnerabilityVigil at
Vancouver Art Gallery
Robson St side (same place as last month)
Saturday, February 14
2-3 pm

All are welcome to join, as dressed as you choose.

Anyone, anywhere can hold a #VulnerabilityVigil.

Special thanks to Emma Cooper who, with various supporters, started doing coinciding #VulnerabilityVigils in Vancouver in November.

Tasha Diamant, naked/stand-up/tragicomic, debut Feb. 13, 7:30 PM, Victoria Event Centre, in Diversion 2

Next week will be my debut as a naked stand-up tragicomic in Diversion 2 at the Victoria Event Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 PM. (Or naked/stand-up/tragicomic?)

I have decided to take part in a variety show and I will do a 15-20-minute act.

I see this as a conceptual tweak on the Human Body Project. I want to experiment with this idea to see if it might "work better." (I.e., maybe reach a few more people. Needless to say, the concept of right livelihood is ongoingly theoretical.)

Slightly different intentions. But both still =

• Mother work
• Non-violent action
• Healing
• Disruption of status quo
• Western dissidence
• Paradigm shift
• Decolonization
• Reconciliation
• Teaching
• Learning
• Art

Human Body Project =

• Naked and unscripted
• Authentic/vulnerable
• Open agenda and open heart
• Share intense experience of vulnerability with the audience
• Experiential
• In relationship to audience
• Audience role is ambiguous/open-ended

Tasha as naked/stand-up/tragicomic =

• Naked
• Still authentic/vulnerable but with a more verbal purpose, which, in my case anyway, means more mind, less heart
• Still not really scripted and no set agenda but with more intention to "perform," share stories and ideas
• Still experiential but more towards the "about me" end of the spectrum rather than the "me in relationship with audience" end
• Audience role still participatory if they want, but they can sit back a little more and let me take the responsibility

I wonder if Tasha as naked/stand-up/tragicomic can be as transformative as the Human Body Project.

I got the idea because I was flat out sick for weeks recently and over that time I watched several comedian movies on Netflix (Russell Peters, Aziz Ansari, Patton Oswalt, Brian Posehn, Maria Bamford, Zach Galifianakis, Louis CK, Jim Gaffigan, Kings of Comedy Tour, and more).

I have often thought that stand-up is the popular art form that the Human Body Project most resembles because those little persons are so alone up there and so vulnerable. They are so sad but they try to make people laugh. Laughter is a safe place, but what if they fail?!

They die!

Having died several deaths on stage, I figure my new "act" can't really go wrong. A) I will live. B) I do not plan to always be funny or even try to be funny.

Hence stand-up tragicomic.

For instance, there is inherent tragicomedy in a naked 51-year-old person's body. Politically and culturally, I think there is probably less tragicomedy and more repulsion inherent in a naked 51-year-old woman's body than a man's, but that remains to be seen (eye of the beholders and all that).

Also, one thing I got from watching the comedians is that they walk a thin line between respect for their audience and "fuck you."

There is a fair amount of "fuck you" inherent in a 51-year-old naked woman's body. Especially one as hairy as mine.

I do my work from the point of view of a person who has been close to destroyed by my culture (always an excellent source of tragicomedy, not to mention comedy) and am only interested in working toward creating antidotes and healing. So, while I have shared my anger and unpleasant emotions, it is in the spirit of being vulnerably authentic. I try not to be the "fuck you" even if I feel like the "fuck you."

The Human Body Project is, in one sense, about me creating a healing space to have a heartful outlet for outrage and pain.

This new thing might be not quite as nicey-nice because of all the dang impolite ideas, thoughts, and feelings, of which I am plumb full.

I.e., being more intentionally verbal may be more "fuck you"-ish. Cultural context-wise, sadly, I feel it might be less of a leap for audiences.

I have some ideas about how I will structure this little experiment but if you want to see, you'll have to come to Diversion 2 at the Victoria Event Centre on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 7:30 PM! (Plus it's for a great cause, the VEC needs chairs so very badly.)

Some Photos and Videos from Yesterday's Vigil

Delia and Yemaya.

Yesterday Delia, Dave, Yemaya, and I honoured Remembrance Day with a Vulnerability Vigil. 

Photos and videos by David Howell.

Here are some links to a couple of videos from yesterday's vigil that I posted on Facebook.

Video (1:30): Tasha at yesterday's vigil.

Video (1:30): Delia at yesterday's vigil.

Tasha Diamant Human.

Cars going by.

My goosebumps.

To my beautiful daughters (an attempt to explain the Human Body Project to my children)

I do the Human Body Project because of you. It feels like a funny thing to do, for sure. 

Some people think that you should only do things that aren't embarrassing. And some people think that you should only do things that are for your job. And some people think that people should never show their bodies, especially their boobs or vaginas or penises! 

Lots of people don't think about what they are doing very much. They think that they should just keep doing normal stuff and just because it's normal it's okay. They might not realize that the way they live or the way they think is part of a whole big group of people doing things that make big messes and problems.  

It's hard to explain but maybe you could imagine that we had a room in our house that we kind of forgot about because maybe we were just too busy with other things. But we liked to put all our junk in that room. You know, kind of like our downstairs room! What would happen if we kept forgetting about that room but kept putting junk and garbage down there? Eventually it would start to overflow and stink up the rest of our house.

Or what would happen if we had another kid who we kind of forgot about and didn't look after? It would be so sad if we remembered that we had this kid and that kid was so scared and sick and hungry!

I think people who are really busy doing normal stuff have kind of forgotten about cleaning up messes and looking after all the kids. That actually makes me really sad and mad.

Okay, I know this might not make a lot of sense but it really makes a lot of sense to me, I decided to do the Human Body Project because I realized I should do something instead of just being sad and mad! One thing I thought was that I should do it without my clothes on because I want to remind everybody what it's like to feel scared like that kid we forgot about. I figure if people remember that scary feeling maybe they might remember that everybody needs to be looked after. 

But you know what else? It's weird, but sometimes it feels pretty good to feel air on your skin doesn't it? (Except when it's really cold!) Another reason I do the Human Body Project is to remind people that our bodies are really special and the great thing is everybody has one! It's kind of amazing! We all have bodies that can run and play and sing and dance and hug! 

This is hard to explain too, but I'll say that almost all the grown-ups in the world think strange thoughts about their bodies and their feelings. They're not very comfortable. Kids are actually way better at being comfortable with their bodies and feelings! But when they get older I think they start to act like all those other grown-ups. 

I do the Human Body Project especially for grown-ups because I really hope they'll remember a feeling that little kids have. It's kind of scary and kind of lovey-dovey at the same time.

It's really important for me to try to feel that feeling and to try to help other people feel it because I think we need that feeling to look after all the kids. But it's really hard because grown-ups are doing so many normal, busy things and they think that's a better, more comfortable thing to do. And even the ones who want to look after all the kids still have to do lots of those normal, busy things because that's the only way they can look after their own kids.

I am embarrassed and scared when I go out naked in front of people, and I know it must be embarrassing for you guys, but I keep doing it because I think it's probably okay to be embarrassed if you're doing something that makes sense. I keep doing it because I really hope us grown-ups figure out a new way to be normal where we remember all the kids.

I do it for you guys because I love you so much and I don't want you to live in a world where we don't look after everyone.

Top Ten Clarifications of The Human Body Project (In Which I Review My Own Show)

Participant art from 2012 Victoria Fringe.

Here and there I get scattered information about how conversations are going about The Human Body Project at this year's Victoria Fringe. Plus there are other reviews by actual reviewers (see recent posts). Plus I hear and see people during the performances.

I'm inspired to write my own "review" in the form of a Top Ten list addressing some of these comments so that I might add some clarification.

There are two more shows, by the way. Saturday noon-1:30 and Sunday 4-5:30 in Venue 4, Wood Hall.

10. It's important to reiterate that I show up naked and unscripted on purpose to be vulnerable and to share that experience of vulnerability with the audience.

I have very strong reasons why I do this, which I have written about extensively and with some academic acclaim. Sometimes, in my shows, I am able to articulate fairly well why I have made this creative decision, sometimes not so much. I am, after all, feeling very vulnerable and when I am feeling vulnerable I am often not especially articulate.

The point, for me, is not how well I explain myself but to show up as vulnerably as possible.

I also have written and talked extensively about how nakedness and unscriptedness are indeed difficult and challenging for me and a good guarantee that I will feel vulnerable. The audience is asked to believe me. I have no control over whether they believe I am feeling vulnerable or not.

9. My intention to share vulnerability with my audience is directly related to my intention to create a healing/transformational experience. I am interested in providing an experience that may offer clues to how we may be better humans because, right now, I think we are extremely unskilled and we are leaving a planet of shit for the next generations.

I have children. To me, this is urgent.

While I have my own personal issues that cause me discomfort and pain when people don't "get" it or reject my work, my braver self is pretty okay with bothering, irritating, and troubling my audiences.

I'm also very happy when people are moved to feel deeper emotion and connection.

It's been said before, The Human Body Project is a Rorschach. I have no control over audiences' expectations and reactions.

All Human Body Project performances are unique, and these last four performances at the 2012 Victoria Fringe have felt really different to me. My own "preference" is to have an experience that feels like there has been some kind of deep, heartful connection, within myself and between me and my audience and between audience members. But just because I feel like an experience has been deep has no bearing on how audience members experience it. The recent fringe show that felt deepest for me was reviewed, the gist being that the show wasn't entertaining and would be better if maybe I told more stories or directed the experience more.

8. Yes, the audience is a player and co-facilitator. I could write more here about shifting the paradigm of domination but words are slippery and confusing. I show up naked, unscripted, a human being in a vulnerable body feeling vulnerable, and other human beings are there with me and we see what unfolds.

I do have a lot of stories and sometimes I tell them, but it's more important to me that the experience be whatever it is, whatever is created in the moment by whomever is there. For me, this is another area where I deal with intense vulnerability--I may be letting the experience unfold but I'm also responsible for holding the space.

People often do get naked with me. They do so for their own reasons.

Audience/participant?! 

Some have penises. Some have beautiful breasts.

Reactions/projections!

Participant art from 2012 Victoria Fringe.

7. Words are important and words are divisive and words get in the way and words are still important. I am often dissatisfied when there is a lot of talk but people also need to talk and it's important to let them talk. It's a dilemma.

6. It's messy. And flawed. And I'm okay with that. Well, as okay as a middle-aged, Anglo, white woman from Canada can be. In other words, the middle-aged, indoctrinated white woman that I am is uncomfortable but the artist/teacher has made a worthwhile creative/pedagogical decision. My discomfort with the lack of agenda adds to my personal vulnerability. But it is also my vision of the way the world needs to move. Linear, "rational," compartmentalized thinking got us where we are now.

5. I am enacting a kind of protest or dissidence. My protest or dissidence is not only directed at my world/society/Western culture, it is directed at myself. I am unable to separate myself from the harm this culture creates. I am coming from a place of privilege protesting my own privilege, protesting my own "lifestyle"--like I have any choice about whether I drive a car or live in a single-family house or participate in the banking system or use energy to heat my home!

Kudos to working mothers who ride their bikes to work and grow vegetables and have never been to McDonald's. I am not up to it. The people I know who live off the grid are upper-middle class.

4. It's not really about me. My work is about creating systemic/cultural/neurobiological change. My own pain and personal issues are quite comprehensive and maybe even worth making a fringe show about but it wouldn't be this show. This show is about how my pain intersects with the planet's pain and offers a modality for moving forward.

3. It's not really about you either. It's about us in relation to each other, our own selves and the planet.

2. I am brave. I have a great capacity for sensitivity and deep feeling. I have great wisdom. I am a bearer and processor of the planet's pain. It's amazing that I'm still alive. I have found that there is no place in this culture where these qualities are valued. In fact, not only are these qualities not valued, I feel extremely vulnerable simply writing these sentences. 

I am so fucking out there, right?! If I could figure out a better way to deliver my wisdom, I would do it.

1. Naked body. The medium is the message. It is what it is. 

"The best way to get your message across is to entertain..." Reviews in The Marble and Monday Mag by Matt McLaren

Participant art from Victoria Fringe 2012 (by Des).

I have no concrete thoughts here; only a confused jumble of mixed emotions, some complimentary and others highly critical. This wasn’t going to be an easy show to review and I knew that from the beginning. It seems as though everyone and their dog has got an opinion on The Human Body Project, currently gracing Victoria Fringe with its third consecutive appearance – sometimes whether they’ve seen the show or not. There’s precious little middle ground here, with some praising it for its daring, while others have criticized it for not actually being a theatre piece. Needless to say, this made going into it for the first time with a completely objective mind difficult. Now, finally having seen it for myself, I can only say that I appreciated aspects of it but also thought it was deeply flawed.

Conceived by naked western dissident and teacher Tasha Diamant, the piece, as you may have heard, is simply the artist sitting bare-bones in front of a crowd. Saying very little, she waits for the audience, daring them to respond, start a discussion and get the ball rolling. As she opens up, she talks about her mission to provoke greater societal vulnerability and thus begin to combat some of the greater problems of society from the ground up. While I appreciate the intent (based on my own fascination with the human form), and I love how passionate she is for her “work,” part of me couldn’t help but wonder if all we had experienced was grumbling at what was wrong (so very wrong) about the world while looking at a naked woman.

Mrs. Diamant is not an uninteresting person, and given the few anecdotes she shared about her life and work has had her share of colorful experiences. I’d almost recommend a radical re-working of the show dramatically, one where she could engage more with her audience and get them involved in participation and discussion. She needs to draw them out more than she’s doing at the moment, because her overall message does give pause for thought. The best way to get your message across is to entertain (though not soullessly), and Diamant’s personal stories about pain and exploring discomfort were certainly involving. I would have liked to hear more of those. Right now this is a lecture prompted by the audience and not the lecturer, and it might work better the other way around.

In the end, the best I can finish on is the old cop-out that this show isn’t for everyone. Having said that, I can’t deny that she shared a positive connection with more than a few members of my audience, and of all the things I can say about this piece, I’m not sorry that I finally saw it.

by Matt

http://marblevictoria.com/post/30159456442/the-human-body-project-matts-review

And here is Matt's abridged version in Monday Mag:

The Human Body Project

It seems as though everyone and their dog has got an opinion on The Human Body Project, currently gracing Victoria Fringe with its third consecutive appearance – sometimes whether they've seen the show or not. Needless to say, this made going into it for the first time with a completely objective mind difficult. Now, finally having seen it for myself, I can only say that I appreciated aspects of it but also thought it was deeply flawed. Conceived by naked western dissident and teacher Tasha Diamant, the piece consists of the artist sitting bare-bones in front of a crowd as a statement on vulnerability. While I appreciate the intent and I love how passionate she is for her “work,” part of me couldn’t help but wonder if all we'd experienced was grumbling at what was wrong (so very wrong) about the world while looking at a naked woman. I’d almost recommend a radical re-working of the show dramatically, one where she could engage more with her audience and get them involved in participation and discussion. Right now this is a lecture prompted by the audience and not the lecturer, and it might work better the other way around.

— Matt McLaren

http://www.mondaymag.com/entertainment/167874945.html (scroll down to the Hs)

VCM Wood Hall (907 Pandora)
Wed., Aug. 29 at 7:45pm
Sat., Sept. 1 at noon
Sun., Sept. 2 at 4pm

Wonderful Project Art

One of the great gifts for me of doing this project is to receive the art that people leave for me.

Today my lovely colleague, Anne Cirillo, and I have been curating art from previous performances of the Human Body Project.
Here is the link to the Human Body Project photostream on flickr where we have posted some of the work from the last six years.

The Human Body Project at the Victoria Fringe--Coming Soon

I've been working on my poster for the Victoria Fringe today.
Here's the version I'm going to go with if the printers think it will work...

Some Recent Comments About The Last Event

I thought I'd finally get around to posting some recent comments people have sent me via e-mail:
HI Tasha:
I finally have the opportunity to comment on this amazingly powerful event.
I am not sure what I was expecting, I have never helped out in an art exhibition before.
What I wanted to share with you is that you had an amazing impact on several people that night. Those women who joined you at the centre of the room with their clothes removed, needed also to express themselves in a way that was totally unexpected. These women were obviously struggling with issues in their lives as we all do, and needed a healthy and unique way to express themselves. I believe they gained a great sense of strength from the project.
I will assume that their involvement was completely unexpected. I think that the simple act of you allowing them to be vulnerable with you…actually gave them the sense of acceptance in knowing that others also struggle…women struggle for many reasons. As we heard, men also struggle. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to experience this incredibly meaningful experience.
You mentioned that it was for yourself that you were doing this. I believe however, you understand that others benefit from your work and that your work, as with all art forms, can have deep meaning for those who experience it. I got very positive feelings from this event and I hope you also realize the impact that you had. I am very proud of you!
I do not know if we ever get any answers to some of the questions we have in life. I believe that people are good and that when we are able to take just a moment to centre ourselves, we can make an impact, and that should make us feel good. When we focus on the good that is within our own selves and reach out to others we allow that goodness to grow. I do not mean to say that we ignore those things within us that need work…it all begins with awareness, consciousness, acceptance…
YOU DID GOOD!! I encourage you to seek the ways that you allow your goodness to grow everyday, and…I will also ask you this, what are the things that have caused you to question the goodness in yourself and the goodness that is in the world? You are a teacher and an expressive person who is able to empower others…what a wonderful gift!
Thank you again, Tasha
Take Care
Rumi

I just saw your Human Body Project Group and I have to say how happy I am that you have taken the time to do this. I remember seeing the project in the SAAG and it affected me in different ways. I wasn't sure if I should be looking at it and avert my eyes, should be uncomfortable, should be upset by it...
I think we are so separated from those things that are most natural that when we are confronted by them, we don't know what to think, act, and feel.
I was wondering when your next event will be. I would love to be there.
Bravo for doing those things that the rest of us are afraid to do.
L.


Hey Tasha--I just wanted to express to you how grateful I am for being able to witness yet another event that made people dig deep into their own sense of worth-my own included. I had grand visions of being much more helpful than I actually was and instead was the one who walked away -yet again- from the experience much richer. I know I still do not know you well-but I can tell you that I like how you make me think. I think you are a grand person Tasha and I hope I get to know you better. Have a fabulous day!--- Joanne

Hey, Tash,

I've been meaning to talk to you since your show (which I loved, by the way!) It stimulated a tremendous amount of thought on my part; I hadn't realised how much I had subconsciously been thinking about these same issues. It was the oddest experience: I came home and started telling B. about it and I just started crying - couldn't stop - it was like that evening had unlocked some latent anxieties that I didn't know I had. Poor B. - he wasn't quite sure what to make of it all, but then, neither did I. Anyway, it did me a lot of good. Thanks for that. You must have been thrilled with the turn out and response. Fascinating to see and hear the male perspective. I was very intrigued with the one guy though very glad I didn't have to see his video - ha ha!!

A.

HBP 3

Like Corinne said last year, it seems like I've invented a new religion. Or, as I'd put it, it seems like I've invented a new therapy or a new class (Naked 101). Whatever it is (and art, to me, is therapy and religion and education--like how do you separate those words anyway?) HBP feels like something we need to do once a week, I see a combo support group/church/reality tv show/contemporary art project.

I used to go to some 12-step groups and never fit into their definitions of dysfunction. I wasn't an alcoholic. I wasn't a child of alcoholics. I wasn't an overeater. I was, however, really miserable, lost and fucked up. I always used to say that we need a new 12-step group: Hi, I'm Tasha and I'm a fucked up human being. Like join the club, eh?

After Friday night I feel less fucked up. It started off with me coming out undressed and I have to admit that even though I felt a lot of trepidation about showing up naked again, it's just easier to do it after you've already done it. I didn't feel that vulnerable to tell the truth. Weird, definitely, but not overly vulnerable. The way we light the room for the cameras is kinder to my body, I would say, than my at-home lights. There are mirrors in the room. I didn't think I looked hideous. I wouldn't have called myself beautiful, but I also was not hideous. It's crazy, I know, but I was relieved not to look hideous.

I also was sitting there thinking, what, actually, is the big deal, really, being naked and all?

Then Jena joined me! She came out undressed and--kapow!--my first thought was: Jena is beautiful! I hope this does not offend Jena but I was taken aback by the strength of that thought. I am a person who is very indoctrinated by the idea that big boobs and long legs is the only female body worth having. Jena has short legs and small boobs and she is beautiful. Like I don't mean just in that loving sense that we are all beautiful, but I mean in an aesthetic sense. I have been held captive by my aesthetic notions for a long time. Seeing her beauty was a real eye-opener for me. My whole life I have wished for large breasts. I love big boobs. If it didn't mean loss of nipple sensation, I am pretty sure I'd get a boob job. I loved my breast-feeding breasts but, because of their toils in the work of breast-feeding, sadly, I didn't want my husband touching them. Anyway, in that moment of seeing Jena naked, she helped me see myself differently. Like I had permission not to have big boobs and skinny legs.

It felt great to have a pal up there! My whole point in a way is, hey, we're all in the same boat. It was nice to have someone in my boat, so to speak. Then Megan joined us and then Marie joined us. Four naked ladies. I'm hoping that Jena, Marie and Megan will post their experiences on this blog. For me, it was wonderful to be up there with three other completely real human naked ladies. All of the women are in their twenties (I haven't fact-checked this but I'm pretty sure). And not once did I feel the need to compare my body unfavourably. It really is powerful for me to have companions. Some people are fine doing things on their own but I've always enjoyed collaboration and group energy. I think my feelings of isolation and need for community have been a big reason for my sickness and depression/lostness/fucked-upness. So with the other women up there I settled into a really comfortable feeling of togetherness.

Jesse, a young man, spoke to us. One of the things he said has also helped me feel like, yes, I am on the right track, and yes, people do need this, because he addressed an important problem that I find really troubling. He said something like: I am less challenged looking at you guys than I am when I flip through the pages of a magazine. I can't remember exactly what else he said to elaborate but basically he was saying that when he looks at the way women are commonly portrayed he is uncomfortable but us four naked ladies in the flesh (three of them lovely women in their twenties) felt cool: because, I am surmising, we were not posed for the delectation of men. I feel so moved by the humanity of that. Like, finally, a man can notice that the way women are portrayed is inhumane! I've written something like this before, but what is with the fathers of daughters, husbands of wives, boyfriends of girlfriends, and brothers of sisters that this is fucking news?!

I was also very moved by Megan's words, which, again, I can't fully recall. One word she used to describe the experience is purity.

I'll continue this in my next entry.