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| Artist Allison Kotzig (Irreversible Magazine) Photo credit: Leonardo DiTomaso for Irreversible Magazine |
Name:
Allison Kotzig
Website:
What is your medium(s)?
Sex store vaginas, video
What type of art do you do?
I make feminist protest art and video that explores trance states.
What inspires you?
Social activism for my feminist protest art and the beauty and mystery of trance states for my video work.
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| Art patrons L’éléphant dans la Salle art exhibit reviewing Oh Wait We have a Better Idea - Allison Kotzig . |
What pieces did you include in the exhibit "L’éléphant dans la Salle" and why? (please share some of the story behind some of the work)
I was lucky enough to have 5 pieces in. Oh Wait, We Have a Better Idea (panels 1 and 2), Leuprolide, Pitch to Win! and You Bastard.
-Oh Wait We have a Better Idea is just a funny piece that made in response to the overwhelming horror and negativity we can all see in the world. In this piece, in the 1st panel, the babies are crawling out of a vagina and in the 2nd panel, they are crawling right back in!
-Leuprolide is a discussion of the medicalization of fertility and the way in which capitalism has taken over health care to the extent that during IVF, the woman's womb is stuffed with fertilized eggs for reasons of cost-efficiency. Leuprolide is the name of a common fetility drug. The panel shows a vagina stuffed and teeming with babies, almost like a hive.
Pitch to Win! I have a masters degree in Medieval History and really love medieval imagery, I did a series of shadow boxes using Hellmouths from medieval illustrations. I cut out the space and placed my own message inside. Pitch to Win! is about the carnival-like atmosphere surrounding male access to women's bodies. There are countless books and sites devoted to showing men how to make an effective pitch to gain access to women and sex, so I just made this piece as if it were a carnival midway game, with medieval imagery underlining the antiquated attitude toward intimacy shown by the narrow focus of "scoring" sexually.
You Bastard is another funny one. Its about being dickmatized (or otherwise sexually in thrall to another). I used the theatre-like red curtains to indicate the extreme drama of being in this situation.
Self taught or traditionally trained?
Self-taught
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| When Vaginas Ruled the Earth (detail) - Allison Kotzig |
Share one thing that has impacted your work?
The way in which it is acceptable for womens' sexuality to be viewed in the media and that is through the lens of violence. Natural women's body parts are strictly forbidden (the national brouhaha over Janet Jackson's nipple showing for 2 seconds) but rapes and abuse are very common; I can barely think of a movie or tv show that does not casually feature violence against women. There is something extremely perverted and obviously very wrong with that.
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| Here be-monsters (detail) - Allison Kotzig |
Name one thing we may not know about you or your work?
I find a lot of it very funny and not at all shocking. It is only when I bring it out to show that I realize that sometimes other people find it very controversial.
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
All people and animals would enjoy equality and live beautiful lives.
If you had access to a time machine, where would you go?
I'd rather travel interdimensionally!
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| Ouroboros - Allison Kotzig |
If you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring creative, what would it be?
Don't be afraid to show your work to people!
If you could have one super power, what would it be?
To beam justice, light and love into the hearts of all creatures
Social Media drug of choice?
Facebook: facebook.com/AllisonKotzig
Allison
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