WEBVTT 00:00:14.347 --> 00:00:17.377 Hello, Manchester. I'm so happy to be here. 00:00:17.904 --> 00:00:20.474 (Responses) (Cheers) 00:00:21.081 --> 00:00:22.998 My name is Sophia Wallace. 00:00:23.038 --> 00:00:24.081 I'm an artist. 00:00:24.111 --> 00:00:26.817 And I'm here today to share with you a project 00:00:26.847 --> 00:00:29.218 that I hope will empower you personally, 00:00:29.251 --> 00:00:31.824 and by extension those that you love, 00:00:31.858 --> 00:00:34.553 especially if they have a clitoris. 00:00:34.573 --> 00:00:35.919 (Cheers) 00:00:38.617 --> 00:00:40.147 (Laughter) 00:00:41.729 --> 00:00:42.776 To make this work, 00:00:42.806 --> 00:00:46.314 I have to talk about independent female desire. 00:00:46.344 --> 00:00:48.958 I have to speak about a universal taboo - 00:00:48.988 --> 00:00:50.553 female genitals. 00:00:50.688 --> 00:00:52.327 This is not easy. 00:00:53.918 --> 00:00:55.995 It taints the speaker. 00:00:56.449 --> 00:00:58.687 I want to thank TEDxSalford 00:00:58.717 --> 00:01:01.610 for having me here and hosting this conversation. 00:01:07.413 --> 00:01:09.999 All bodies are entitled to experience the pleasure 00:01:10.029 --> 00:01:11.803 that they are capable of. 00:01:12.061 --> 00:01:15.017 This is a core pillar of cliteracy. 00:01:15.859 --> 00:01:17.598 In making this work, 00:01:18.054 --> 00:01:20.312 I had to say that the clitoris, 00:01:20.783 --> 00:01:23.577 first, as an organ, has a right to being, 00:01:23.942 --> 00:01:28.446 and that this right is not just about not being cut off. 00:01:28.466 --> 00:01:30.308 Sadly, to this day, 00:01:30.338 --> 00:01:32.008 over a 140 million women 00:01:32.048 --> 00:01:34.918 have had their external clitorises cut off. 00:01:35.257 --> 00:01:37.624 This doesn't make it into the news very often, 00:01:37.654 --> 00:01:40.385 and this doesn't come up in foreign policy discussion. 00:01:40.688 --> 00:01:41.784 So number one, 00:01:41.804 --> 00:01:46.184 the clitoris has a right to exist, free of harm, like any other organ. 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:49.521 But secondly, I argue with cliteracy 00:01:50.210 --> 00:01:52.233 that the clitoris has a right to pleasure, 00:01:52.273 --> 00:01:55.194 and this is part of its primary right of being. 00:01:57.074 --> 00:02:00.415 How is it possible that we landed on the Moon 00:02:00.455 --> 00:02:02.800 and walked around 29 years 00:02:02.830 --> 00:02:05.957 before we discovered the anatomy of the clitoris? 00:02:08.375 --> 00:02:11.175 (Laughter) 00:02:11.430 --> 00:02:16.263 We actually cloned sheep, identified the Higgs boson particle, 00:02:16.283 --> 00:02:19.270 and only discovered the clitoris 29 years ago. 00:02:19.300 --> 00:02:22.576 Unfortunately, this discovery has not been adopted, 00:02:22.616 --> 00:02:26.409 so most people don't know the actual anatomy of the clitoris. 00:02:27.801 --> 00:02:31.566 The clitoris is not a button. It is an iceberg. 00:02:34.298 --> 00:02:37.205 Like many in the room who are hearing this for the first time, 00:02:37.225 --> 00:02:38.426 I was shocked to find out 00:02:38.456 --> 00:02:42.330 that I didn't know the actual anatomy of half of the population, 00:02:42.369 --> 00:02:44.488 that I didn't know my own anatomy. 00:02:44.616 --> 00:02:47.972 In fact, the clitoris is not a button, it is like an iceberg. 00:02:48.002 --> 00:02:50.331 Most of the organ is internal. 00:02:52.600 --> 00:02:54.950 This slide is an anatomical example 00:02:54.978 --> 00:02:58.271 of the penis and the clitoris side by side. 00:02:58.302 --> 00:03:00.164 Now, we've all been taught 00:03:00.192 --> 00:03:04.069 that male bodies and female bodies are opposites: 00:03:04.091 --> 00:03:08.099 the male body sort of sticks out, the female body is solely internal. 00:03:08.122 --> 00:03:09.147 Well, in fact, 00:03:09.169 --> 00:03:13.023 there're so many similarities between the penis and the clitoris. 00:03:13.039 --> 00:03:14.456 So, if you'll see, 00:03:15.028 --> 00:03:16.938 both the glans and - 00:03:16.959 --> 00:03:19.479 The glans of the penis and the glans of the clitoris - 00:03:19.499 --> 00:03:21.129 both organs have a glans. 00:03:21.163 --> 00:03:24.269 There are 3000 nerves in the glans of the penis. 00:03:24.293 --> 00:03:26.979 There are 8000 nerves in the glans of the clitoris. 00:03:26.989 --> 00:03:29.505 Both organs have a corpus cavernosum. 00:03:29.523 --> 00:03:34.100 Both organs have crura, like two little legs or wings. 00:03:34.114 --> 00:03:36.466 Both organs have bulbs of erectile tissue. 00:03:36.496 --> 00:03:38.408 Both organs get erect. 00:03:38.786 --> 00:03:41.301 The penis is outside of the body mostly, 00:03:41.327 --> 00:03:43.446 and the clitoris is inside the body mostly. 00:03:43.465 --> 00:03:44.927 That's the biggest difference. 00:03:44.950 --> 00:03:46.426 In fact, they're very similar. 00:03:46.441 --> 00:03:49.342 Actually, fetuses have the same tissue, 00:03:49.359 --> 00:03:53.191 and in boys it develops as a penis, in girls it develops as a clitoris. 00:03:53.547 --> 00:03:57.444 Some people have small penises, some people have very large clitorises. 00:03:57.454 --> 00:04:00.114 If one has a clitoris and takes testosterone, 00:04:00.147 --> 00:04:01.841 their clitoris can expand. 00:04:01.863 --> 00:04:04.904 What I'm saying is that these organs are actually quite similar. 00:04:04.936 --> 00:04:08.403 And, while we are different, while we are unique as men and women, 00:04:08.420 --> 00:04:11.741 our differences are not a sign of opposition. 00:04:11.778 --> 00:04:15.999 In fact, we're related to each other, we're connected. 00:04:16.016 --> 00:04:18.432 And that's an exciting fact. 00:04:21.478 --> 00:04:24.005 With Cliteracy, I started with language. 00:04:24.027 --> 00:04:25.242 Language has been a place 00:04:25.266 --> 00:04:28.065 that so much of sort of the division of men and women 00:04:28.087 --> 00:04:31.796 and the subjugation of women has been entrenched with the language itself. 00:04:32.983 --> 00:04:36.595 'Vagina' - the single most misused word in the English language. 00:04:36.742 --> 00:04:38.517 This is one of the laws of Cliteracy. 00:04:38.557 --> 00:04:40.282 It's intentionally hyperbolic. 00:04:40.294 --> 00:04:43.379 But unfortunately, it's more true than I wish it was. 00:04:43.406 --> 00:04:47.103 'Vagina' is a Latin word. It means 'sword holder'. 00:04:47.915 --> 00:04:50.905 (Laughter) 00:04:54.143 --> 00:04:58.399 Vagina, medically, technically, only includes the opening. 00:04:59.125 --> 00:05:02.282 This term is used almost universally in doctor's offices. 00:05:02.306 --> 00:05:05.852 It's also used in feminism to sort of advocate. 00:05:05.880 --> 00:05:08.885 But it's a term that ignores the clitoris, 00:05:08.908 --> 00:05:11.221 which is the female sexual organ. 00:05:11.422 --> 00:05:16.232 And secondly, it reduces the female body to being a receptacle, a sword holder. 00:05:16.643 --> 00:05:19.780 If you want to use a term that addresses all the female genitals, 00:05:19.806 --> 00:05:22.415 both the reproductive and the sexual parts of it, 00:05:22.434 --> 00:05:24.127 the word is 'vulva'. 00:05:24.484 --> 00:05:26.362 This is a word that almost no one uses, 00:05:26.382 --> 00:05:29.911 but this is the word if you want to talk about female genitals - vulva. 00:05:29.933 --> 00:05:34.504 If you want to talk about pleasure, 'clitoris' is the term. 00:05:34.538 --> 00:05:36.548 The clitoris is both internal and external. 00:05:36.578 --> 00:05:39.685 So, when the clitoris is engaged, 00:05:39.700 --> 00:05:41.271 internal stimulation feels great. 00:05:41.354 --> 00:05:44.072 If the clitoris is not engaged, it can feel not great, 00:05:44.106 --> 00:05:45.247 or it can feel painful. 00:05:45.281 --> 00:05:47.616 It's all about what's happening with the clitoris. 00:05:47.652 --> 00:05:49.398 If it was about the vagina, 00:05:49.428 --> 00:05:52.540 there would be so many nerves that childbirth would be impossible. 00:05:52.570 --> 00:05:54.428 There're very few nerves in the vagina. 00:05:54.458 --> 00:05:57.425 All of the nerves inside are from the internal clitoris, 00:05:57.438 --> 00:06:01.085 which gets stimulated both from external and internal portions. NOTE Paragraph 00:06:03.713 --> 00:06:05.922 With Cliteracy I felt that - 00:06:05.943 --> 00:06:07.706 Yes, language has been this way 00:06:07.736 --> 00:06:10.106 of restricting and confining the female body, 00:06:10.126 --> 00:06:12.014 but if language can do these thing, 00:06:12.035 --> 00:06:15.177 it can also liberate, it can also be expansive. 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:17.559 It's also an opportunity to come together. 00:06:17.793 --> 00:06:22.638 And so I sought to use language as a way to shift the discourse 00:06:22.661 --> 00:06:25.719 and create new space and more alignment. 00:06:28.755 --> 00:06:31.698 With Cliteracy, I first began with the term, 00:06:31.715 --> 00:06:33.629 and then a definition of the term, 00:06:33.659 --> 00:06:35.204 and then an eye chart. 00:06:35.374 --> 00:06:36.800 The aesthetics of this project 00:06:36.835 --> 00:06:39.183 were also extremely important and intentional. 00:06:39.217 --> 00:06:41.781 I avoided any kind of pink and purple; 00:06:42.438 --> 00:06:44.161 I didn't use flowers; 00:06:44.920 --> 00:06:46.990 I didn't use any fabric or yarn, 00:06:47.014 --> 00:06:49.226 anything soft and fluffy. 00:06:49.257 --> 00:06:53.275 I also didn't make any small works that you could hold in your hand 00:06:53.293 --> 00:06:55.333 or eat off of like plates. 00:06:55.371 --> 00:06:58.929 I also intentionally avoided any kind of sexual imagery, 00:06:58.949 --> 00:07:03.097 any kind of graphic, close-up, literal depictions. 00:07:03.115 --> 00:07:06.858 I think that everywhere we see the exposed female body, 00:07:06.877 --> 00:07:11.199 and yet we don't know the actual female sexual organ, the clitoris. 00:07:11.245 --> 00:07:13.354 So showing it is not the point, right? 00:07:13.376 --> 00:07:14.880 Understanding it is the point. 00:07:14.928 --> 00:07:17.773 Literacy of it, knowledge of it is the point. 00:07:18.800 --> 00:07:20.390 [The hole is not the whole] 00:07:20.407 --> 00:07:22.977 (Laughter) 00:07:22.997 --> 00:07:25.010 The hole is not the whole. 00:07:25.037 --> 00:07:27.333 With Cliteracy I had a lot of fun with word-play. 00:07:27.373 --> 00:07:29.435 There was just so much material to work with 00:07:29.465 --> 00:07:31.422 and so much to talk about. 00:07:34.175 --> 00:07:37.096 I also am making the radical claim with Cliteracy 00:07:37.115 --> 00:07:39.021 that we can't truly be free 00:07:39.049 --> 00:07:40.589 if our bodies are assailed. 00:07:40.619 --> 00:07:45.063 We can't truly be fully enjoying our democracy 00:07:45.084 --> 00:07:46.813 when half of the population 00:07:46.833 --> 00:07:50.084 can't speak about their own body, is censored when they say the words 00:07:50.119 --> 00:07:51.646 because these words are taboo, 00:07:51.664 --> 00:07:54.504 or are regularly having sex without orgasms. 00:07:54.537 --> 00:07:56.355 And we don't talk about this. 00:07:56.517 --> 00:08:00.188 I'm making the radical claim that freedom in society 00:08:00.221 --> 00:08:02.716 can also be measured by the distribution of orgasms. 00:08:02.745 --> 00:08:04.651 This could be one indicator that we use 00:08:04.662 --> 00:08:09.872 when we look at education, access to health care, 00:08:11.235 --> 00:08:12.235 economics. 00:08:12.265 --> 00:08:15.470 We could also say: How are orgasms being distributed? 00:08:15.490 --> 00:08:18.153 That tells us something about a society. 00:08:20.625 --> 00:08:22.446 There is no lack. 00:08:22.640 --> 00:08:23.658 Truly. 00:08:24.081 --> 00:08:27.399 Freud invented the paradigm of the phallus versus the lack. 00:08:27.416 --> 00:08:31.748 He said that men have the phallus, they have the penis, they have agency; 00:08:31.772 --> 00:08:36.029 women have a lack, they have a vagina, they have a void. 00:08:36.450 --> 00:08:38.634 In fact, Freud was wrong, 00:08:38.883 --> 00:08:41.789 the vagina is not the female sexual organ, it is the clitoris. 00:08:41.809 --> 00:08:46.192 There is no lack, none of us have lack, none of us are lacking, we're all whole. 00:08:47.513 --> 00:08:53.134 And none of us need to be depicted in terms solely of a void. 00:08:54.657 --> 00:08:57.367 [Girls are taught it's normal for sex to hurt. Phallusy.] 00:08:57.400 --> 00:09:01.889 In many ways, all of us have had a psychological clitoridectomy 00:09:01.917 --> 00:09:04.539 because the clitoris is never taught. 00:09:05.358 --> 00:09:10.608 In sex education it is taught that boys are both sexual and reproductive, 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:14.396 boys have erections, boys have wet dreams, 00:09:14.725 --> 00:09:16.153 boys ejaculate, 00:09:16.163 --> 00:09:18.794 and then the semen fertilizes the egg. 00:09:19.414 --> 00:09:23.294 Girls, we're taught, have reproductive organs, 00:09:23.322 --> 00:09:27.026 they menstruate, menstruation is painful. 00:09:27.136 --> 00:09:30.533 Girls should not get pregnant if they don't mean to. 00:09:30.561 --> 00:09:33.056 Girls should not get sexually transmitted diseases. 00:09:33.081 --> 00:09:34.700 We never learn about the clitoris. 00:09:34.710 --> 00:09:36.714 We never learn that girls have desire, 00:09:36.748 --> 00:09:38.389 that this is natural, 00:09:38.855 --> 00:09:42.244 that girls have sexual dreams, that girls have fantasies. 00:09:43.235 --> 00:09:49.247 So already, as a culture, I would say we all have clitoridectomies. 00:09:51.614 --> 00:09:54.749 'Clitoris, say my name, say my name.' 00:09:54.875 --> 00:09:56.993 I really enjoyed using word-play 00:09:57.044 --> 00:10:01.394 and putting the clitoris into popular culture and song lyrics. 00:10:01.635 --> 00:10:06.992 So much of popular culture, music - the female genitals are kind of riffed on 00:10:07.022 --> 00:10:09.462 but almost always in a negative way. 00:10:09.650 --> 00:10:11.849 If you want to humiliate a man, 00:10:12.096 --> 00:10:14.882 call him a word for female genitals, right? 00:10:15.035 --> 00:10:18.150 But this is also an opportunity, you can just pop in the clit, 00:10:18.190 --> 00:10:20.859 and suddenly the whole song changes; it's very powerful. 00:10:20.880 --> 00:10:22.610 So, this is a Destiny's Child song, 00:10:22.642 --> 00:10:25.091 there're many more in the Laws of Cliteracy 00:10:25.111 --> 00:10:28.144 like 'Ain't no half-stepping to the clit,' 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:31.004 'Sleeping on the clit? That shit cray', 00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:32.412 which it is. 00:10:34.751 --> 00:10:38.288 Here's an example from looking below at the 100 Laws of Cliteracy. 00:10:38.308 --> 00:10:43.397 So this work spans 13 feet long by 10 feet tall. 00:10:43.603 --> 00:10:45.344 It dwarfs anyone's body. 00:10:45.556 --> 00:10:48.943 When I first showed this work, I had no idea what the response would be. 00:10:48.974 --> 00:10:51.225 Of course, I was hoping it would be positive, 00:10:51.242 --> 00:10:52.355 but I didn't know. 00:10:52.375 --> 00:10:57.874 And I have to say, I was overwhelmed with the way audiences responded. 00:10:57.895 --> 00:11:00.201 They really wanted to have this conversation. 00:11:00.229 --> 00:11:02.702 They would stay with the work for 15 minutes. 00:11:02.727 --> 00:11:04.827 I would come back, they would still be there, 00:11:04.847 --> 00:11:06.469 they would have friends with them. 00:11:06.494 --> 00:11:09.298 And I felt like this work was needed. 00:11:09.615 --> 00:11:12.257 I was invited to speak about it a lot, 00:11:12.289 --> 00:11:14.848 and I was also contacted privately. 00:11:14.874 --> 00:11:16.526 People shared secrets with me, 00:11:16.557 --> 00:11:20.399 people told me for the first time they didn't feel ashamed about their body, 00:11:20.424 --> 00:11:23.448 or they went home with this knowledge 00:11:23.474 --> 00:11:26.379 and are having a great time with their girlfriend, 00:11:26.389 --> 00:11:28.149 and wanted to thank me for that. 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:29.896 So this was extremely gratifying. 00:11:29.916 --> 00:11:33.645 I think for me, what made me feel like I was onto something 00:11:33.663 --> 00:11:37.356 was that such a diverse group of people supported this project: 00:11:37.825 --> 00:11:43.163 men and women, young and old, religious and secular, queer and straight. 00:11:44.373 --> 00:11:47.795 So many people came together to support this project. 00:11:48.044 --> 00:11:53.464 And I was contacted by people from as far as New Zealand, Egypt, Brazil, 00:11:53.491 --> 00:11:56.206 saying: 'How can we help you with this project? 00:11:56.220 --> 00:12:00.020 Can you translate this project into Arabic or into Portuguese, 00:12:00.050 --> 00:12:02.379 like, we need this here in our country.' 00:12:03.752 --> 00:12:08.505 I wanted Cliteracy to go everywhere, but I didn't know how to do that yet, 00:12:08.530 --> 00:12:10.235 and I'm still figuring that out. 00:12:10.252 --> 00:12:11.587 But I know that it's needed. 00:12:11.607 --> 00:12:14.839 And I know that it can't just stay within the walls of the art world. 00:12:16.269 --> 00:12:19.982 I don't consider myself a street artist, but I began making work on the street 00:12:19.997 --> 00:12:22.543 for the same reason that I think a lot of artist do - 00:12:22.563 --> 00:12:24.862 I wanted to communicate more broadly. 00:12:28.515 --> 00:12:32.779 This is an example from a documentary of just me putting up some pieces. 00:12:32.804 --> 00:12:35.541 These are prints that I made on a news print, 00:12:35.551 --> 00:12:39.127 then I'm putting them up with wheat paste just like old posters were put up. 00:12:39.287 --> 00:12:41.280 I'm just doing this in Brooklyn. 00:12:41.682 --> 00:12:44.384 Some people like to do street art at the night time, 00:12:44.399 --> 00:12:47.156 I do it in the day because I feel like it's a little safer, 00:12:47.360 --> 00:12:49.728 the anonymity of the crowd in New York. 00:12:49.883 --> 00:12:51.257 So far so good. 00:12:52.324 --> 00:12:54.606 And one of the cool things about doing street art 00:12:54.646 --> 00:12:56.604 is that people will comment on your work. 00:12:56.614 --> 00:12:58.857 Sometimes they cross it out or destroy it, 00:12:58.877 --> 00:13:01.808 but other times they put their art on top of it. 00:13:01.838 --> 00:13:03.849 And in this case that happened. 00:13:03.880 --> 00:13:06.588 Again, like when I showed the work in the gallery, 00:13:06.608 --> 00:13:08.545 on the street there was a big response, 00:13:08.568 --> 00:13:09.851 people would photograph it, 00:13:09.881 --> 00:13:11.931 they would post it on Twitter and Instagram. 00:13:11.944 --> 00:13:14.083 And it felt like I was talking about something 00:13:14.093 --> 00:13:15.570 that needed to be talked about, 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:18.560 that the project was needed and people were grateful to find it 00:13:18.689 --> 00:13:20.845 and to keep pushing it out there more. 00:13:23.741 --> 00:13:29.332 Doing the street work emboldened me to take on even crazier ideas 00:13:29.360 --> 00:13:31.822 that I never thought I would find myself doing. 00:13:32.297 --> 00:13:38.322 And I actually, together with an artist named Clit Eastwood, or Ken Thomas, 00:13:38.350 --> 00:13:41.770 held the world's first-ever clit rodeo last summer. 00:13:42.397 --> 00:13:45.317 We created a rideable golden clit. 00:13:45.347 --> 00:13:47.340 (Laughter) 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:50.196 And we held the first clit rodeo. 00:13:50.471 --> 00:13:53.469 And, you know, there were two rules to the rodeo. 00:13:53.509 --> 00:13:55.958 Basically, one: respect the clit. 00:13:56.088 --> 00:13:57.188 Respect it. 00:13:57.219 --> 00:13:58.134 Two: have fun. 00:13:58.153 --> 00:13:59.714 Those were the rules. 00:13:59.946 --> 00:14:04.721 We had so many riders who wanted to ride, more than we could host for our event. 00:14:04.833 --> 00:14:08.106 But the riders were judged on three categories: 00:14:08.135 --> 00:14:11.392 dexterity, style and generosity. 00:14:11.652 --> 00:14:13.893 And they were really good riders, I have to say. 00:14:13.923 --> 00:14:16.150 I was worried that it might get a little boring 00:14:16.180 --> 00:14:19.127 because as you saw on the previous slide, it was just a spring. 00:14:19.147 --> 00:14:21.480 But people were reading erotica to the clit, 00:14:21.522 --> 00:14:25.363 someone did a striptease for the clit, someone surfed the clit, 00:14:25.392 --> 00:14:28.487 someone offered a cigarette to the clit, and then, like - 00:14:28.509 --> 00:14:31.889 There was a couple where the woman was nine-months-pregnant; 00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:32.928 she was riding, 00:14:32.938 --> 00:14:37.136 and her husband was in the background as her backup dancer, dancing around ... 00:14:37.252 --> 00:14:40.425 So, it was way better than I ever expected. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.161 I just was thrilled because the clit was the star of the show. 00:14:45.185 --> 00:14:46.354 Finally! 00:14:49.262 --> 00:14:52.001 I've always wanted Cliteracy to be in the public space, 00:14:52.025 --> 00:14:55.872 to be at large scale, to be seen over time, 00:14:55.905 --> 00:14:58.297 not to have to be hidden away or be a secret. 00:14:58.335 --> 00:15:00.934 And I had the opportunity last fall. 00:15:00.955 --> 00:15:06.234 Together with Center and Santa Fe we put up a 35 feet billboard of Cliteracy, 00:15:06.273 --> 00:15:07.858 or 11 metre billboard. 00:15:07.998 --> 00:15:09.063 The text says: 00:15:09.093 --> 00:15:11.907 'Democracy without cliteracy - phallusy'. 00:15:12.223 --> 00:15:14.134 And I was thrilled to do this, 00:15:14.422 --> 00:15:16.630 especially because where it was on this highway 00:15:16.660 --> 00:15:19.643 is travelled by such a broad range of people, 00:15:19.668 --> 00:15:25.913 from long-haul truck drivers to art collectors and everyone in between. 00:15:26.229 --> 00:15:28.694 The billboard company was a little bit less psyched 00:15:28.714 --> 00:15:31.195 about how much feedback they got about the billboard, 00:15:31.225 --> 00:15:32.613 but I thought this was great. 00:15:32.643 --> 00:15:34.927 A lot of people were like: 'What are you selling? 00:15:34.967 --> 00:15:36.273 I don't understand.' 00:15:37.573 --> 00:15:41.479 I actually got a call that I'll never forget from a mom, saying: 00:15:41.708 --> 00:15:44.129 'I have to drive this route with my son every day, 00:15:44.165 --> 00:15:46.405 and I don't know what to tell him.' 00:15:48.120 --> 00:15:51.414 But I was thrilled because she's going to talk to him about cliteracy, 00:15:51.434 --> 00:15:53.815 and this is something that he needs to know about. 00:15:55.995 --> 00:15:58.072 Cliteracy needs more than text though, 00:15:58.092 --> 00:16:00.906 and I always knew that I wanted to explore the form as well. 00:16:00.936 --> 00:16:03.974 None of us know this form, right? I didn't know this form. 00:16:04.136 --> 00:16:05.383 So I set about making 00:16:05.383 --> 00:16:09.175 the world's first anatomically correct sculpture of the clitoris. 00:16:09.209 --> 00:16:11.877 And this was something that was actually quite hard to do 00:16:11.897 --> 00:16:14.973 because there are so few accurate representations of the anatomy. 00:16:14.993 --> 00:16:19.930 And when you find these very few drawings or scans, 00:16:19.961 --> 00:16:22.996 they contradict each other, they don't make sense. 00:16:23.194 --> 00:16:27.978 So, it was actually not that easy to do, but I set about making this form. 00:16:30.877 --> 00:16:36.373 With the form I wanted to not only explore the anatomy and get it accurate, 00:16:36.406 --> 00:16:41.268 but I also wanted to show the gesture of beauty of this organ 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:43.287 and the gracefulness of it. 00:16:47.359 --> 00:16:51.684 Here is the first sculpture that I know of of the anatomically correct clitoris. 00:16:51.712 --> 00:16:55.175 It's six feet tall and five feet wide. 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:59.373 And I wanted to create an iconic form 00:17:00.215 --> 00:17:03.968 of this unseen organ half of us have, 00:17:03.996 --> 00:17:07.429 all of us were born through the body of someone that has a clitoris. 00:17:07.459 --> 00:17:11.199 Everyone in this room was born through the body of someone that has a clitoris. 00:17:11.229 --> 00:17:13.427 So all of us have been touched by the clitoris. 00:17:13.447 --> 00:17:15.755 This is universal and yet we don't know about it. 00:17:15.775 --> 00:17:18.359 So I wanted to create an iconic form that's memorable, 00:17:18.390 --> 00:17:20.850 that puts this into our consciousness. 00:17:22.605 --> 00:17:26.250 And I hope that finally this form would be treated with honour and respect 00:17:26.278 --> 00:17:28.127 and not be treated as obscene. 00:17:28.151 --> 00:17:29.631 I think it's a beautiful form, 00:17:29.661 --> 00:17:31.758 and I didn't know it, 00:17:31.778 --> 00:17:34.638 but once I saw it, it started to feel familiar in this way. 00:17:34.667 --> 00:17:38.470 And I started to see it around in the natural world, in plants. 00:17:38.496 --> 00:17:41.800 I also saw it in engravings, on architectural sites. 00:17:41.837 --> 00:17:44.665 I saw it in weavings of oriental tapestries. 00:17:44.695 --> 00:17:46.272 I started to see it around. 00:17:46.292 --> 00:17:48.321 And that was very exciting. 00:17:48.425 --> 00:17:51.550 And the form is interesting not strictly as a sculpture, 00:17:51.580 --> 00:17:54.376 but in patterns. 00:17:54.617 --> 00:17:56.095 There's something very exciting 00:17:56.115 --> 00:18:00.063 about looking into the power of the small, the power of multiplicity. 00:18:00.087 --> 00:18:03.777 Instead of creating just this singular superior object, 00:18:03.813 --> 00:18:06.153 what about putting all these tiny beautiful forms 00:18:06.193 --> 00:18:09.055 that together form a baby-clit army. 00:18:09.078 --> 00:18:10.626 The one on the right, 00:18:10.656 --> 00:18:11.655 (Laughter) 00:18:11.675 --> 00:18:13.298 I call it 'Fleur-de-clits', 00:18:13.318 --> 00:18:16.876 and the one on the left was later used in the intervention 00:18:16.906 --> 00:18:18.477 at the Whitney Museum. 00:18:19.376 --> 00:18:22.581 So here's a sort of subversive clit army coming together 00:18:22.601 --> 00:18:25.524 to make the 'Fleur-de-clit', which is this beautiful pattern. 00:18:25.552 --> 00:18:27.945 But unfortunately, if some people knew what it was, 00:18:27.975 --> 00:18:29.363 it wouldn't be allowed to be. 00:18:29.383 --> 00:18:32.011 And that's sort of the rub of it. 00:18:32.671 --> 00:18:36.690 Here is an example of more clit forms and patterns that I created. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:38.773 This is a clit damask pattern 00:18:38.787 --> 00:18:42.934 with clit forms burnished onto wood. 00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.275 On the left is a new sculpture. 00:18:45.807 --> 00:18:49.123 So, this is the first sketch of an invisible clit sculpture. 00:18:49.148 --> 00:18:50.804 It's the same digital form 00:18:50.823 --> 00:18:53.632 that I used to make the gold sculpture I just showed to you. 00:18:53.653 --> 00:18:55.585 But this exists in the negative space. 00:18:55.615 --> 00:18:58.586 So I used the laser to actually cut out the form 00:18:58.622 --> 00:19:00.277 from clear plexiglass. 00:19:00.297 --> 00:19:04.512 And so this invisible sculpture addresses the fact 00:19:04.540 --> 00:19:09.004 that this is omnipresent, and yet it's negated, it's invisible, 00:19:09.034 --> 00:19:11.118 it's not allowed to be spoken of. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:15.383 I also continued with this idea of negation 00:19:15.406 --> 00:19:17.653 and using the laser to burn away 00:19:17.676 --> 00:19:19.968 with laser-cut works on paper. 00:19:22.424 --> 00:19:25.270 And I developed a brand new technology. 00:19:25.306 --> 00:19:27.251 You might not have heard about it, 00:19:27.282 --> 00:19:28.601 but it's very cutting edge. 00:19:28.631 --> 00:19:30.169 I'll try to explain. 00:19:30.321 --> 00:19:33.729 It's called 'clitglass', and the way that it works - 00:19:33.749 --> 00:19:35.103 anyone can wear it; 00:19:35.128 --> 00:19:39.267 anyone who wants neutral vision can wear a clitglass. 00:19:39.287 --> 00:19:41.652 So you put on the clitglass, 00:19:41.985 --> 00:19:44.823 and you look through the perspective of the clit. 00:19:44.955 --> 00:19:48.888 And the clit refracts any kind of phallocentricacy 00:19:48.918 --> 00:19:50.218 that's coming back at you. 00:19:50.251 --> 00:19:54.364 And so you obtain neutral vision, or what I like to call 'normal' vision. 00:19:54.387 --> 00:19:55.397 (Laughter) 00:19:55.435 --> 00:19:59.792 Now, you can use clitglass at the Whitney Museum, 00:19:59.807 --> 00:20:02.280 or you can use it at work, in front of the TV, 00:20:02.305 --> 00:20:04.197 even at a family reunion. 00:20:04.227 --> 00:20:05.648 (Laughter) 00:20:05.674 --> 00:20:09.542 This is an example of looking through this cutting edge technology. 00:20:11.581 --> 00:20:13.497 So those forms that I showed earlier, 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:17.114 I also played a game at my intervention at the Whitney Museum, 00:20:17.148 --> 00:20:20.056 called 'put a clit on it', or - 00:20:20.415 --> 00:20:22.022 'clit-dazzle the Whitney'. 00:20:22.052 --> 00:20:26.190 So basically I handed out these unknown clit forms, and I said: 00:20:26.220 --> 00:20:28.621 'Put the clit wherever you think it needs to go - 00:20:28.647 --> 00:20:30.569 put it as a subject in art history, 00:20:30.601 --> 00:20:33.387 put into the designs, put it on the American flag. 00:20:33.417 --> 00:20:35.582 Whole country has a problem with illcliteracy. 00:20:35.602 --> 00:20:36.609 Help America out. 00:20:36.639 --> 00:20:38.591 Just take the clit where it needs to go.' 00:20:38.626 --> 00:20:43.271 So you can see on the lower left, that's a Clitchtenstein. 00:20:44.333 --> 00:20:47.114 On the lower right, Clitsper Johns. 00:20:49.303 --> 00:20:52.356 This is the family at the Whitney Museum during the intervention, 00:20:52.396 --> 00:20:55.750 and the boy on the left who looks to be about 11 years old, 00:20:55.777 --> 00:20:57.209 at one point asks his mom - 00:20:57.226 --> 00:21:00.936 they'd been wearing the clitglasses for about 15 minutes, having a great time. 00:21:00.936 --> 00:21:02.608 He was like, 'Mom, what's a clit?' 00:21:02.628 --> 00:21:04.364 (Laughter) 00:21:04.394 --> 00:21:08.006 And she said: 'Oh, it's a really sensitive part of the woman's body.' 00:21:08.031 --> 00:21:10.094 And he was like, 'Okay, cool.' 00:21:10.505 --> 00:21:12.396 And I was thrilled because 00:21:12.425 --> 00:21:15.050 one: he felt comfortable asking the question; 00:21:15.073 --> 00:21:17.849 two: his mom was supportive and answered the question. 00:21:17.869 --> 00:21:21.029 And it was totally normal - nothing obscene, nothing secret, 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:25.079 no one had to be dragged out of the room, no one had to be ashamed. 00:21:25.464 --> 00:21:28.766 And that's what I'm hoping that Cliteracy can continue to do. 00:21:30.287 --> 00:21:34.072 Overwhelmingly, the response to Cliteracy has been positive. 00:21:34.095 --> 00:21:37.981 So many people have supported the project and wanted to help with it. 00:21:38.002 --> 00:21:41.859 And there've been a few institutions who have courageously started showing it. 00:21:42.034 --> 00:21:44.636 But there's so much more that needs to be done. 00:21:47.486 --> 00:21:51.854 My dream is to radically change the way that we think about bodies 00:21:51.868 --> 00:21:54.312 so that everyone's body is respected. 00:21:54.599 --> 00:21:58.901 I want to do this by creating large scale permanent public sculptures 00:21:58.924 --> 00:22:01.779 that exist for thousands of years. 00:22:01.804 --> 00:22:04.274 I want to work with metals and stone 00:22:04.307 --> 00:22:07.317 so that these forms don't disappear in future generations, 00:22:07.341 --> 00:22:10.868 and we don't have to have this conversation again and again. 00:22:12.978 --> 00:22:17.041 Democracy without cliteracy is a phallusy. 00:22:19.564 --> 00:22:22.610 I want cliteracy to be taught in schools 00:22:22.630 --> 00:22:27.548 so that no child has an unnameable part of their body. 00:22:27.995 --> 00:22:31.697 The clit should be a starring role in any bedroom that it's in. 00:22:32.161 --> 00:22:34.841 And it shouldn't be censored in the Parliament. 00:22:36.918 --> 00:22:40.037 So, in closing, I want to ask you 00:22:40.284 --> 00:22:41.792 to see the clit. 00:22:42.366 --> 00:22:43.891 See it everywhere. 00:22:44.304 --> 00:22:45.885 Don't stop seeing it. 00:22:46.102 --> 00:22:47.702 And if you need help, 00:22:48.873 --> 00:22:51.555 you can borrow this pair of glasses from me. 00:22:52.614 --> 00:22:55.309 And don't just stop with seeing it. 00:22:55.348 --> 00:22:58.144 Say it. Say its name. 00:23:00.744 --> 00:23:03.514 (Applause) (Cheers) 00:23:03.544 --> 00:23:04.620 Thank you. 00:23:04.650 --> 00:23:07.410 (Applause)