Friday, April 18, 2008

Just Plain Sick

New Haven, CT (LifeNews.com) -- A Yale University art student is causing a national controversy with her senior art project that revolves around self-induced abortions. Aliza Shvarts says she artificially inseminated herself “as often as possible" in order to become pregnant and reportedly used herbs to cause abortions.

Shvarts, a senior art major, intentionally caused the death of the babies with the herbs.

Afterwards, she allegedly saved her blood and the blood from each of the babies she killed to create an art display.

The display consists of a cube with video footage she took of the miscarriages on either side and a canvas in the middle with paintings created from the blood.

Shvarts mixed Vaseline with the blood to prevent it from drying and placed the blood between sheets of plastic wrapped around the cube that hung from the ceiling.

In a statement, Shvarts wouldn't reveal how many abortions she had over the nine month period in order to create the art project but it appears at least two abortions were necessary to complete the art display.

Shvarts said she did not intend the project to have "shock value" or to generate controversy.

"I hope it inspires some sort of disclosure. Sure, some people will be upset with the message and will not agree with it, but it’s not the intention of the piece to scandalize anyone,” she said.

"It was a private and personal endeavor, but also a transparent one for the most part," Shvarts said. "This isn't something I've been hiding."

Laura Echevarria, an editorial columnist for LifeNews.com, says Yale University officials should have put a stop to the project or at least not display it.

"Yale should be ashamed that it is allowing an 'art' project that will offend millions of Americans," she said.

"Abortion is the deliberate destruction of human life. Putting that destruction on display as so-called art crosses a line and Yale should respond by pulling this project," Echevarria added.

Though Shvarts contends otherwise, Echevarria insists Shvarts likely created the project to receive attention.

"It is a gruesome and macabre display that, contrary to the 'artist's' assertion, was likely contrived because of its shock value," Echevarria said.

"This is just unbelievably macabre. I mean, how does someone do this not only to their own body but to the lives she kept creating and then aborting. How do you lose your sense of humanity to do such a thing?" Echevarria added.

She said Shvarts's project is also offensive to women who have had miscarriages and suffered the loss of a child they desperately wanted.

According to a Yale Daily News report, Shvarts won't reveal the names of the sperm donors and said they were checked for sexually transmitted diseases.

She said she wasn't concerned about the medical effect of the abortions -- even though the legal abortion drug RU 486 has killed 13 women worldwide and injured more than 1,200 in the United States alone.

Jonathan Serrato, a member of the campus pro-life group, told the Yale student newspaper he finds the concept disgusting.

"I feel that she's manipulating life for the benefit of her art, and I definitely don't support it," Serrato said. "I think it's morally wrong."

Yale University will have the project on public display from April 22 to May 1 and Shvarts' display will appear next to other senior art projects.

1 comment:

HiddenSquire said...

I hope they post pictures of the project online.