In the aftermath of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, abortion bans in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah already went into effect. While others will follow, abortion clinics in these states have already been halting operations and cancelling appointments. Women who needed an abortion are being redirected to states where the procedure is still legal (but will they manage to get on their lists on time?), while, those women who are still in the timeline to take abortion pills are ordering them online (in case of need, non-profit organisations, such as Aid Access, send pills all over the world).
Can art inspire us to ponder about this theme? Definitely. The work of Amsterdam-based artist Eva van Kempen comes to mind: inspired by medical achievements and by the procreation process and control humans have over fertility, van Kempen, who, trained as a goldsmith and jewelry designer but then expanded her practice with more experimental pieces, considers herself an "artivist". Van Kempen started making jewelry using expired medical materials after she was hospitalized for an illness. She first started incorporating pill packs in her pieces, but then also included intravenous systems and syringes.
Between 2018 and 2020 the artivist created the "Planned Parenthood" series that also featured the "In Case of Emergency" bracelet with morning-after pill and the "Lun/mar/mer/jeu/ven/sam/dim", bracelet, with expired contraceptive pills in packaging.
In 2020 she created the "Freedom as Luxury" that featured a key design, a Lady Liberty crown made with expired abortion pills, to comment about abortion laws, conceived as a thermometer of democracy and of respect for human rights. Together with Women on Waves (WoW) - the Dutch non-profit organization for free choice and women's rights founded in 1999 by the Rebecca Gomperts (who often wears Van Kempen's creations; Gomperts was among the 100 most influential people of the world in 2020 by Time magazine), and Bart Terwiel – van Kempen launched the Lady Liberty Abortion Pill Crown as an Instagram face filter two years ago.
The filter, by augmented-reality artist Chloe Karayiannis, featured the crown and the slogan "Liberate abortion pills". When you opened your mouth, the pills were released from the crown. The filter was scheduled to be released at the beginning of March 2020 to raise awareness about a method of abortion that remains highly restricted in the United States. The release date was going to coincide with the US Supreme Court's hearing of the case to challenge Row v. Wade. Yet Instagram tried to edit the message "Liberate abortion pills" into "Liberate abortion", and then eventually the filter was banned. Instagram mentioned article 4.3.c. of its terms of use as a reason for rejection of the filter; The article states, "Content must not promote alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, or pharmaceutical medical products, nor be published by brands associated with such products." But the filter was'’t promoting any medical products as it didn't include the name of the abortion pill producer. Accepted on Facebook for a short time, the filter was then taken down also on this social media.
Van Kempen recently reposted on her Instagram account the Women on Web campaign image featuring her Lady Liberty piece (first picture in this post, a photo by Pedro Brito Da Fonseca), but there are other pills that may end up being targeted by the Supreme Court. Justice Clarence Thomas hinted at other cases to re-examine, and contraception may be the next issue.
Art-wise Susie Freeman and Dr. Liz Lee created in 1998 a gown which is parte of the Wellcome Collection – "Pharmacopoeia - Come Dancing". The ballgown is decorated with over 6,000 contraceptive pills - enough for 26 years - and, at the waist, instead of a jewel clap, there is a Lippes Loop or coil that provided intrauterine contraception for the same amount of time.
In 1999 the creative duo also came up with the "Jubilee" gown. Part of the Royal College of General Practitioners collection, "Jubilee" is a wedding-style dress made of fine nylon monofilament, knitted on a Dubied industrial knitting machine. Enclosed in rows of tiny mesh pockets there are 6,279 contraceptive pills. Allowing for a couple of breaks to have children, the packets represented would provide contraception for a woman from the age of 22 to 50 years old. It is titled "Jubilee" as a celebration of her silver wedding anniversary.
Freeman and Lee often used pills in their artworks, but these pieces were inspired by their conversations with other women regarding contraceptive information provided to them. The artists found out that many women using the loop for example had questions which remained unanswered by doctors, whilst those women taking contraceptive pills did not consider the quantity they would need to consume. The artworks therefore aimed at informing women about contraceptive methods.
Maybe it is about time to relaunch the pharmoacopoeia trend in fashion, but mainly focus on contraceptive and abortion pills and on designs and artworks that can provide information for a younger generation of women.
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