My Snake is Bigger Than Your Snake
Artist: Rebecca "Bex" Goyette
Year: 2022
Date of Action: June-August 2022
Region: North America
Location: New London, Connecticut, USA
Subject: Explicit Sexuality
Medium: Film Video
Confronting Bodies: Audiences, Presenting museum
Description of Artwork: "My Snake is Bigger Than Your Snake" is a video piece with humorous and burlesque references to sex. The artist recalls memories of her father through the lead character, Lobsta Queen, with hallucinatory visuals. Through campy depictions, Goyette uses references to Adam and Eve, Roman goddesses, and animal figures to illustrate her process of grief with her father's passing.
The Incident: The artwork was included in the exhibition The Will to Change: Gathering as Practice at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Connecticut organized by The Nasty Women Connecticut, their sixth annual exhibition. Audience members complained that the piece was disturbing and inappropriate for the children attending the exhibition.
Results of Incident: Ms. Goyette's work was taken down three days after the opening of the exhibition, and she was asked to offer a non-video piece instead. The organizers placed an explanatory statement next to the substitute piece acknowledging the censorship. The statement included a QR code linking to the original video.
Source:
https://ncac.org/news/lyman-allyn-art-museum-in-connecticut-removes-work; https://filmfestivalflix.com/film/my-snake-is-bigger-than-your-snake/
