Spring Break
Student claims art project include self-induced miscarriages
Issue date: 4/24/08
A controversial senior art project that claims to document a year of self-induced miscarriages has been the center of debate at Yale University.
Aliza Shvarts said that she artificially inseminated herself as many times as possible over a nine-month period and then consumed abortifacient herbs at the end of her menstrual cycle to induce miscarriages.
Although the University maintains that the exhibit is a farce and that Shvarts did not actually impregnate herself, there is no determining evidence in Shvarts's videos to prove whether or not she did perform self-abortions.
While Shvarts's project has been defended based on the artist's freedom of expression, the project has stunned and enraged many student groups on campus as well as the administration.
The exhibition, which features the videos of her miscarrying projected onto a cube covered in Vaseline, will not be exhibited at the University unless it is proven that Shvartz's claims are fiction.
Aliza Shvarts said that she artificially inseminated herself as many times as possible over a nine-month period and then consumed abortifacient herbs at the end of her menstrual cycle to induce miscarriages.
Although the University maintains that the exhibit is a farce and that Shvarts did not actually impregnate herself, there is no determining evidence in Shvarts's videos to prove whether or not she did perform self-abortions.
While Shvarts's project has been defended based on the artist's freedom of expression, the project has stunned and enraged many student groups on campus as well as the administration.
The exhibition, which features the videos of her miscarrying projected onto a cube covered in Vaseline, will not be exhibited at the University unless it is proven that Shvartz's claims are fiction.
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