{"id":8255,"date":"2011-11-18T02:24:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-18T10:24:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.godammit.com\/?p=8255"},"modified":"2011-11-18T02:24:37","modified_gmt":"2011-11-18T10:24:37","slug":"the-art-of-self-harming","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/godammit.com\/the-art-of-self-harming\/","title":{"rendered":"The Art of Self Harming"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mary Coble<\/strong> is a dedicated artist whose 2005 performance piece, Note to Self<\/a>, involved being tattooed with the names of 436 gay, lesbian, bi and transgendered people who died as a result of hate crimes. \u00a0The performance took 12 hours.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, wow. On the other hand, is this art?<\/p>\n

Here is a \u00a0parallel, under the category of Too Much Information:<\/p>\n

Late at night, I like to pick at my legs. “Like” isn’t the right word. It’s more, I have<\/em> to pick at my legs. This has been going on long enough that I know it’s a form of OCD because I don’t want to do it but I do it anyway.<\/p>\n

It started with a tweezer and a couple of ingrown hairs. I hate shaving my legs but I hate ingrown hairs even more. Soon, you get a little scab and the next night, you need to \u00a0pick off the scab. Pretty soon, it’s war. My legs are a battlefield and no one is winning. I stopped for a few \u00a0months \u00a0but then started again.<\/p>\n

I know this is a response to intolerable anxiety. I know I should wear mittens at night, or take up knitting or wear high boots until I get into bed.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, I haven’t managed to stop.<\/p>\n

Mary Coble has inspired me to ask the question: IS THIS ART?!? How about if I call this a six month performance piece, with my husband the sole spectator??<\/p>\n

I think that having only one spectator makes it super<\/em> arty!<\/p>\n

I already feel kind of important about my work!<\/p>\n

What do you think?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"