LIMITED EDITION
Whence the number 456?
As it turns out, this is potentially the maximal number of
menstrual periods a woman can experience in her lifetime.
This installation exhibits 456 clear
pouches with approximately 2.5 ounces of blood-like substance that
illustrate the number of periods and the volume of blood a woman expels in
her lifetime.
49
years - 11 years = 38 year x 12 (months per year) = 456 periods
And,
the math continues as the artist, Sally Curcio, calculates the amount of
blood a women discharges.
2.5
ounces period discharge (on average) x 456 periods = 1140 ounces = 8.9
gallons.
Curcio
meticulously measured out a blood-colored substance into 456 separate
pouches which were then installed at varying heights with gossamer thin
thread within the small gallery space. The repetition of the
claret-colored translucent pouches creates an aesthetically pleasing sight
when viewed abstractly, while the magnitude of pouches dramatically
reveals a central fact of the female experience.
According
to Our Bodies Our Selves by
the
“Menstruation
starts in about the middle of puberty, generally at the age eleven or
twelve, though any time from nine to eighteen years is normal. It
continues until the average age of forty-eight or forty-nine, in the
middle of climacteric. The age
range for menopause is generally between forty and fifty-five.” (Page
33)
“The length of a cycle usually ranges from 20 to 36 days, the average
being 28 days. (Menstruation is from the Latin word mensis,
for ‘month.’)” (Page
34)
This
exhibit was supported in part by a grant from the Northampton Arts
Council.
A
portion of the funds from sales from this exhibit were contributed to the
National Foundation for Cancer Research.
