VIRGIN BIRTH PROJECT

Life, death, birth....I've always tried to use these elements in my work. Deer hunting is just the recent manifestation of this. Last week, everybody's "rich white artist" whipping boy Damien Hirst has been called on the carpet  for letting thousands of butterflies die in an installation at the Tate in London. Most don't need much of a reason for hating Hirst. I don't know whether it's the ease to which he came to his early uber-success or his attitude at dinner parties that have pissed everyone off. In any case, from his maggot infested cow heads, to sharks floating in formaldahyde, his work also deals with life, death and birth. I don't have any problem with a few butterflies sacrificed to art. Anything but those damn polka dots.
   I mention this because yesterday, on the last day of the EBC show, I sat in MO David North talking with friends who had brought over a couple of women to see the show. One of them happened to be the Aussie pop star notKylie. We made small talk and watched the fire crackle. These woman were devotees of a local Ashram run by a beautiful semi-reclusive guru. I don't don't have much use for gurus, but I was polite and actually interested in why these smart, beautiful gals would be drawn to this place. Conversation ebbed and flowed and somehow it turned to eggs- not the scrambled, but frozen female variety. notKylie was somewhat of an expert. She was closing in on 38 and had recently arranged to have her eggs frozen and banked with an outfit in London. This information brought a piece I'd been wanting to do flooding back.
   The Virgin Birth Project was simple. I wanted to purchase a female egg, some male sperm and have them implanted in a third party- a virgin. I'd actually contacted a doctor friend in Utah who said I'd be breaking so many laws and ethics that he was uncomfortable even discussing it. Of course the internet was next. Getting some sperm didn't seem to be much a problem. Hell, I even think I may have some left, I could use in a pinch. But eggs were another issue. It seemed that the whole process was tightly regulated and very expensive. notKylie said she had frozen 11 eggs for $5000, paying $300 per year to keep them in the freezer. That wasn't bad. For the cost of a used car i could do this. Could there be something like a "back alley artificial insemination"? How hard could it be? I've got a turkey baster. This is one of those pieces that may take a while. I still haven't worked out all the kinks. Whose sperm? Whose egg? Where do I find a virgin? Who the hell raises the kid? I think what I need is something like the Ashram, some sort of art world cult of loving individuals, willing to house, feed and raise Little Baby Jesus. Stay tuned.