Edgewood College
Date: 2001
Region: North America
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Mixed Media, Education
Artist: Jolene Hollen, The DeRicci Gallery
Confronting Bodies: Administrators and Employees at Edgewood College
Dates of Action: May, 2001
Location: The DeRicci Gallery, Edgewood College, Madison, Wisconsin
Description of Artwork: The work features a pair of female mannequin legs seated in a chair and an arm cradling an answering machine. Viewers can also listen to a graphic audio tape depicting a phone-sex chat line. The artist says of her work, "This is an attempt to add new dimensions to our understanding of the ways that culture and the dominant hegemonic stance continues to shape our notions of gender, and thus the way we see ourselves and others. The question is, who gets to do the talking?"
The Incident: The artwork was displayed in the DeRicci Gallery, which is also a wide hallway that leads to administrative offices at the university. An employee complained to the human resources department, claiming that the artwork created a "hostile workplace."
Results of Incident: The student agreed to move the piece to a less visible part of the gallery. The college planed to seek out another location for future student exhibits.
Source: Startribune.com, Minneapolis/St. Paul, www.edgewood.edu/info/arts.htm