Three Weeks in May
Three Weeks in May: Speaking Out On Rape, A Political Art Piece | |
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Artist | Suzanne Lacy, Leslie Labowitz, Jill Soderholm, Melissa Hoffman, Barbara Cohen |
Year | 1977 |
Medium | performance |
Location | Hammer Museum |
Three Weeks in May: Speaking Out On Rape, A Political Art Piece was an extended work of performance art and activism by Suzanne Lacy. The piece took place in Los Angeles, California from May 8 to May 24, 1977.
History
Lacy designed Three Weeks in May in collaboration with artists
The City Mall Shopping Center was chosen as the site of an installation piece due to its proximity to
Labowitz organized a performance series addressing rape that was held at lunchtime in the underground City Mall Shopping Center for four consecutive days. She collaborated with different groups for the performances. The Rape was developed in collaboration with Women against Rape, Men against Rape. All Men Are Potential Rapists included two men from the Los Angeles Men's Collective. The performances Myths about Rape and Women Fight Back were done with the help of Woman's Building members.[5]
Lacy created the performance installation She Who Would Fly at Garage Gallery for Three Weeks. Over the course of two afternoons, she invited women to voice their experiences with rape. The women then wrote their experiences on paper that was taped to the location where they were sexually assaulted on one of the maps that covered the walls of the small gallery space. Poet Deena Metzger scrawled a description of her rape on one of the walls. She Who Would Fly was opened to the public for an evening and visitors could enter four at a time and read the stories. A winged lamb carcass was suspended from the ceiling and four performers, each having experienced sexual violence, sat silently above the door, naked and covered in red greasepaint.[7]
Three Weeks also included a performance piece on the steps of Los Angeles City Hall, a rape "speak-out", and self-defense classes for women in an attempt to highlight and curb sexual violence against women.[3]
Legacy
Three Weeks in May prompted the police and the city government to address violence against women openly and to publicize rape hotlines.
In 2012 Lacy modified Three Weeks in May for the Getty Pacific Standard Time Performance Festival in a new project called Three Weeks in January, which continued the dialogue about rape in Los Angeles. It included presentations, conversations, and a performance called Storytelling Rape. This time the map was installed prominently on the Los Angeles Police Department's main campus.[11] Storying Rape: Shame Ends Here grew into another art project produced for the Liverpool Biennial in 2012, promoting a public conversation in the English city about rape violence, education, and prevention.[12]
In December 2012 the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles acquired Three Weeks in May. This is now the installation's permanent home.[13]
See also
References
- ISBN 0-7914-4323-X.
three weeks in may lacy.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4529-1516-6.
- ^ a b Karen Rosenberg (March 28, 2008). "Turning Stereotypes Into Artistic Strengths". New York Times.
- ISBN 978-0-8223-9122-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4438-5006-3.
- ^ David Ng (December 12, 2012), Hammer Museum acquires 'Three Weeks in May' by Suzanne Lacy Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Three Weeks in May (1977)". Suzannelacy.com. Archived from the original on 20 March 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
- ISBN 0-520-23066-3.
- ISBN 0-520-93660-4.
- S2CID 201751753.
- ^ Finkel, Jori (January 12, 2012). "Suzanne Lacy kicks off 'Three Weeks in January' at LAPD headquarters". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Storying Rape". Threeweeksinjanuary.org. Retrieved May 5, 2019.
- ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-05-05.