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Wyndham | New
Guinea menstrual hut carving
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Tamara Wyndham's
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RED TIDE Tamara Wyndham July 22, 1989 Kate Millett Art Colony, Poughkeepsie, New York The stage set was entirely white: white walls, a white sheet of paper on the wall, a small table with a white tablecloth. On the table was a white teapot and a white carton of white eggs, a metal egg beater and a clear glass bowl. I was dressed in a white T shirt and white drawstring pants. I had memorized the following text, which is a combination of a childhood memory and a dream. As I spoke it, I made a charcoal drawing on the paper of what I was speaking about, starting with the ocean, then the clouds, the rain, the elephant, the golden disks and the hibiscus. I performed this work on the heavy day of my period. I wore no underwear and no tampon nor napkin, so that I bled onto my pants as I performed. When I finished speaking the text, I went outside and quickly took off my clothes, then re-entered naked, with my internal organs painted on the front of my torso. Without speaking, I took an egg from the carton and broke it into the bowl. Inside the eggshell was not egg, but my own menstrual blood. From the teapot I poured red hibiscus tea into the bowl with the blood. I whisked it together, and then drank it. TEXT: On the coast of California where I grew up, one day when I was a girl, the ocean turned red. It was a dark brownish red, the color of old blood. A foul fish smell filled the air, for thousands of dead fish had washed ashore the beaches. A shift in the climate had caused the temperature of the ocean to warm. In this warm water, billions of phytoplankton, tiny organisms halfway between plant and animal, reproduce rapidly. They crowd toward the surface to receive sunlight, and the density of their great numbers discolors the water. My mother told me that they killed the fish by using up all of the oxygen in the water; but actually they produce one of the most toxic poisons known. My mother was curious and took me to the beach to look at the dead fish and the red water. I was fascinated. But she would not let me play in the water nor touch the fish. The warm ocean water evaporates, and condenses high in the air to form cumulus clouds. The cumulus build up rapidly into tall towers called castelllanus. The clouds become saturated, and a heavy rain falls and clears the air of the dead fish smell. The tide recedes, and in the distance, a gigantic elephant rises from the ocean. She is huge and magnificent, and is an omen of great changes in the world, and of danger. She moves slowly through the water toward the shore and into the town,lifting her great feet gently as she walks down the street past the house where I lived. She walks calmly and magnificently, causing no harm. The people keep at a distance and watch cautiously. Now, two great golden disks, of thirty feet diameter, representing the planets Jupiter and Saturn, roll down the street. One from West to East, the other from East to West. They cross paths right in front of where I am standing, in front of my house. This signifies that the sea will flood the land. At this point, it is revealed to me that a certain flower, a red hibiscus flower, will be of great help and importance in the coming years. This flower is known in many parts of the world, and a sharp red tea is made from its petals. |
See Tamara Wyndham's prints of her vulva using menstrual blood
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New
Guinea menstrual hut carving
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