Are you tired of street harassment and do you have access to a video-recording device or a camera? Then how about participating in the Medusa Gaze Project?
How to participate:
“Send us your 15 to 20 seconds video file or jpg of your gaze, no text, no name, no photo manipulation, just your icy stare. For uniformity, standing like I am, cropped like in our tumblr pic. We will add the text ‘I will not be intimidated’ to it and add it to the projection loop. We will accept images & videos throughout the Summer 2011. We plan projections beginning this Fall (US and Europe) and will document them online. Also called for are your harassment stories, in writing or an audio clip.
Send images, audio, written texts and video files to: seekingkali(at)yahoo(dot)com“
What is the project?
“The Medusa Gaze Project is an art project conceived by Artist Collective Seeking Kali (William Evertson, Susan Shulman, Ria Vanden Eynde), to rage against public sexual harassment of women. Whether it be catcalling, obscene gestures, sexually explicit comments, cornering, following women. We want to protest against this kind of bullying by men of women in the public space.
Literally and figuratively unseen by bystanders, this kind of threatening behavior leaves women feeling insecure to walk the streets. Society, men AND women often perceive it as normal, a small annoyance , as a way of complimenting the women or they hold the women responsible as a kind of victim blaming.
Seeking Kali wants to artistically speak out against sexual harassment and raise awareness that it IS a problem. We created this project as a way to empower women and confront society with its responsability. We aim to do this by sharing stories and showing images/video of women expressing their reproval and their determination not to be intimidated. We want to claim the right for women to walk freely and safely on our city streets.”
I made my own Medusa Gaze Project contribution. If only I COULD turn street harassers to stone with it! What does yours look like?
