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diversions
Display
stirs up mixed emotions
By Cynthia Tom
On-line Forty-Niner
An art piece recently
put on display in the lobby of the Fine Arts Building 4 may
become a topic of controversy on campus due to its nature.
The painting, entitled
"Everyday Objects" by Daal Praderas, a senior art
major, features day-to-day items that exist in the lives of
females, all exaggerated in size. Examples include a pair
of tweezers, a makeup sponge, a paper clip, a tampon and a
used sanitary napkin.
"The message
I'm trying to convey is how women in our society feel compelled
to hide what is so natural," Praderas said. "If
women don't have their period it means something's wrong,
yet we feel we have to hide it. I want people to realize what
an absurd reaction that is to something so normal, and how
society reinforces that and makes it difficult not to think
that way."
The professor,
Cherie Benner-Davis, is "all for that."
"Because half
the population on the planet is women and the reproductive
cycle is natural," she said. "A good part of the
rest of the population is uncomfortable with it and I think
we should get over it."
The piece was originally
put on display Tuesday, and no complaints have been heard
yet. Despite the controversial nature of the piece, Benner-Davis
said the piece does not risk getting taken down.
Reactions to the
piece from bystanders and onlookers were generally favorable.
"She's expressing
herself and art can be interpreted in the mind of the viewer,"
said Nester Torres, an undeclared freshman who is currently
studying art. "She's making a strong statement, and using
what's personal to her to express herself. That's what an
artist does, and I don't see a problem with it at all."
Jenifer Tracy,
a senior art major, agreed.
"I don't see
why people would have a problem with this piece," she
said. "There's nothing controversial here at all. It's
a tampon and a pad, and neither are real or in a woman's body.
There are clearly female products here, but a lot of the other
objects are just art supplies."
Praders has enjoyed
seeing peoples' reactions, and is hoping that her piece will
be able to remain on display.
"There's no
person on earth who wasn't born from a woman, yet we so often
feel a need to avert our eyes," she said. "It's
ridiculous. If moms didn't have a period, how could anyone
have been born?"
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