NYC Performance Artist Due to Give Birth — in Front of a Live Audience!
- Posted on October 12, 2011 at 11:51pm by
Madeleine Morgenstern
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A promotional image for the upcoming "Birth of Baby X" performance, in which artist Marni Kotak will give birth in front of a live audience. (Media credit: marnikotak.com)
We’ve come a long way from expectant fathers sitting in the hospital waiting room, passing out cigars while their wives go into labor.
Marni Kotak, a Brooklyn-based performance artist, is planning to give birth in a New York art gallery — while a live audience watches.
The exhibit, titled “The Birth of Baby X,” will chronicle the remaining weeks of Kotak’s pregnancy, culminating with the birth of her child in front of gallery visitors.
A release from Brooklyn’s Microscope Gallery provided a description of the exhibit, which began Saturday and will run through Nov. 7:
Beginning October 8, Kotak will transform Microscope into her home birthing room, complete with her grandmother’s bed, and her old rocking chair. The exhibit has been orchestrated around Kotak’s official due date. Visitors should be prepared to find themselves suddenly as witnesses to a live birth.
During the month, Kotak will often be present in the gallery preparing mentally and physically for the event, which will be assisted by a mid-wife and doula. The exhibit also includes videos of related performances—including “You are My Baby”, performed at Lumen Festival this summer, in which Kotak videotaped the audience and projected their faces onto her belly; sculptures and other objects; and personal artworks by Kotak’s husband and artist Jason Robert Bell. Remnants from the final days of pregnancy and the birth will be added to the exhibition as it progresses.
Artist Marni Kotak in the performance space for "The Birth of Baby X." (Media credit: Microscope Gallery)
“I hope that people will see that human life itself is the most profound work of art, and that therefore giving birth, the greatest expression of life, is the highest form of art,” Kotak said in an interview with the Village Voice. “I have decided to do this because I want to show people that, as in my previous performances, real life is the best performance art.”
Kotak she is mentally prepared to go through labor and delivery in front of an audience — and is no more worried than she would be if she were giving birth at home or in a hospital.
“I wouldn’t say that I am scared to do this, because I have a good support team: my midwife, doula and wonderful husband,” she said. “Of course, I am a bit nervous about the whole process of giving birth and having a child, and like every mother, I am hoping that everything goes smoothly.”
According to Kotak’s website, this is only the latest in a string of eyebrow-raising performances, including staging a reenactment of her own birth on her recently deceased grandmother’s bed and losing her virginity in a blue Plymouth while audience members peered inside.
Kotak said she wants her piece to capture the “raw immediacy” of real life.
“In ‘The Birth of Baby X,’ I will be completely engrossed in the act of giving birth before a live audience. I will be focused on delivering my child into the world in the healthiest manner possible, rather than on how I look or what the audience may think,” Kotak said. “This, to me, provides for the most authentic performance art situation. And the ultimate creation of this life performance will be a living being!”
The gallery has extended its hours to accommodate the performance, and visitors can be placed on a list to be notified when Kotak goes into labor.
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Comments (105)
McKenzie Davis
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 4:19amPeople do such stupid stuff for attention!!!! SAD!
Report Post »Robert-CA
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:17amThat’s it ?????
Report Post »No more respect for human kind ?
Lord have mercy on us .
godlovinmom
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 4:09amAnd all this time I could of been performing for live audiences and making money while I’m having my kids…who new?..one word…YUCK!
Report Post »Mil-Dot
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 6:01amI know. What a freak. This is the kind of derangement that liberalism/progressivism breeds.
Report Post »JimCDew
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 6:54amShe’ll be engrossed, I’ll just be grossed out.
Report Post »GBMBulletsSKNRD
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 7:00amI really just don’t know what to say. Wait I got it, Perverted.
Report Post »JimCDew
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 7:02amThe woman wasn’t good enough to be featured on one of those birthing shows on The Learning Channel???
Report Post »Obama_Sham
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 7:09amThis has got to be a joke…
And yet, we call ourselves “civilized”…
Report Post »rmurfster
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 11:08amI was talking to some (legal) immigrant folks about recent news to see what their point of view would be. They think these kinds of people should be hauled off to the insane asylum- the “Occupy” protesters too with their overflowing public depravity. They think this kind of behavior is highly immoral. One person said it seems these Americans are desperately looking for something. They lamented how there are so many empty, insane people here. It greatly concerns them.
I think what this particular article describes is criminal! “Birth of Baby”-What! Who is in charge of accepting exhibits at the NYC Museum anyway? This isn’t their first blatant shot at morality. So open minded their brains leaked out years ago.
Report Post »the_zazzy
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:28pmIntimacy between a husband and wife is also one of life’s beautiful moments as well, but when shared with a live studio audience, it is porn. Some beautiful things in life are meant to be revered and kept private. I’m glad she supports life, but please keep it intimate.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:13pmBirth is “intimate”? Aren’t most births done in a hospital with a doctor and nurse or two attending, or with a midwife? Sometimes the husband is there, sometimes not. My dad wasn’t there at my birth, or my brother‘s or sister’s. Some people think baptism’s are private affairs. The church often likes to do them in public. In some royal weddings the consummation of the marriage actually was witnessed in the same room.
I think this is silly and rather exhibitionistic (but isn’t a lot of “art”?), but let‘s not start making rules that don’t exist.
Report Post »the_zazzy
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 4:14pmPerhaps intimate was not the right word, however, a doctor and several nurses were also present at my colonoscopy. I along, with 100% of the rest of the population, would not want my colon spread wide open for a public viewing. A birth involves a woman’s crotch, which her doctor and nurses have seen before. Birth is a natural occurence, let’s not make it art. Hell, taking a dump is also a natural occurence…let’s call that “art” and do it in front of a studio audience. This is a ridiculous debate!
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 9:56amI don’t see the problem.
Report Post »What is gross is the 30% c-section rate. Our medical community has hidden childbirth so that many women don’t know what to expect and then give their doctor all the control. They will do whatever doctor says. In larger sense groomed for tyranny.
darkloch
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:36pmim not concerned about her having a tv show on the birth of her first child, but i have more concern about the people tunning in to see it. look at it my way, “who is more foolish, the fool or the fool’s that are following her.”
Report Post »toto
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 6:57pmMan, do I feel sorry for that child to have such a self-absorbed mother.
Report Post »ConservHippy
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 2:09pmI really can’t even LOL at this… Why are people so weird?
Report Post »Ron_WA
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:12amSilly, but to each their own …
Report Post »dordor
Posted on October 15, 2011 at 8:50amGrandma must be very proud.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 2:33amThis is just part one. Part two will be called “Raising Baby X.” Kotak uses art to cloak her sexual and mental disorders. She’s free to be an artistic wh*re, but dragging her own child into her deviant world from the very moment of birth is child abuse. This woman is an unfit mother who will repeatedly victimize her child through her “performance art” and get away with it.
When depraved behavior becomes the social norm, it is a sure sign that an empire is in decline.
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:03amGeez, what’s with the nastiness?
I am happy to hear she is married to a husband she loves.
What would be gross is watching Lady Gaga deliver.
Conservatives crave power too.You think you’re exempt from mob mentality. Listen to yourself. Remember beck talking about the Mormons being run out of town, their homes burned in the middle of the night- yeah the “Righteous Right” would do that…and I’m a Christian.
Remember DEMOCRACY IS THE CRUELEST FORM OF GOVERNMENT. majority rule/mob rule.
So give birth momma-with an audience and long live a Constitutionally Representative Republic!
Report Post »I_am_a_Paleo-Libertarian_Lady
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 2:21amMy sympathy goes to the baby who will learn, years later, that her parents showed lack of tact (& respect) on his/her special day.
Report Post »thefnshow
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:38amattention wh ore
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 2:01amBaby X? Maybe she’ll call it Malcolm? What a joke! I‘m glad she’s not my Mother. How about you? Now, what would you do if your Mother did this to you on a live Internet feed and you had to grow up as the “Live NYC Performance Baby”? Can you say Chucky? How about Ted Bundy?
Report Post »spirited
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 2:37amChances are, Baby X will be named Xana do and grow up to be a “performing artist” as well.
> Xana do, Do you?
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:38am20 years from now: “Mom why did you let the world see me born? Wasn’t my birth sacred enough for you and daddy to watch.. I would have had liked a say in it.” All this woman is doing is drawing attention to herself to make a few bucks..
Report Post »CatCra
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:34amFirst time labor and deliveries don’t always go as planned. She may be humbled with a 36 hour labor and then C section.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:46amWhat she needs is a lobotomy. Oh, sorry, it seems she already had one… or two.
Report Post »The Giver
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 1:53pmThat’s right. If she needs a C-section, she’ll have to be rushed to the HOSPITAL. Will the gawkers get their money back? The risk of infection also increases in such a public place. She’s an exhibitionist and everything is excused in the name of what they call “art”. Poor child. Luckily no one is out of the reach of God’s arms.
Report Post »Californiasodbuster
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:31amVisions of a kenny rogers concert in the 80′s, by his wife, is nothing sacred?
Report Post »JQCitizen
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:28amWell, I knew the economy was bad… – BUT THIS – ???
Something below a “B” Actor, I’d say.
I guess she’ll get the gawkers.
Report Post »The-Monk
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:40amPoor child… I assume child welfare will press cruelty charges against the mother. Now I know where people like Ted Bundy came from… Mothers like this. What’s next, a live abortion in front of a NYC stage? People need to get a clue and have some dignity. This woman needs to in a mental ward. This is just sick.
Report Post »kryptonite
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:09am@The-Monk
Report Post »Now I know where people like Ted Bundy came from
————-
Obama was abandoned by his mother at age 10. He had already been abandoned by his dad at birth (not at age two). It shows.
TyrannyNoMore
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:17amHey…that guy crapping on the police car in NYC the other day……he was just creating art. If he did it in a museum, I am quite sure the protesters would have paid the price of admission. Hmmm..call it the capitalist in me, but maybe they can gather all the human excrement these losers are dropping all over the city, turn it into a sculpture exhibit, and charge admission. They just might recoup some of the money it will cost to clean up the mess the commies leave behind after they all get arrested.
Report Post »JohnofOregon
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:33amhey,hey,hey,hey, don’t jump on him that hard. That was just an Obama policy advisor showing where the adinistration gets thier ideas
Report Post »bolsen00
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:56amAn audience for losing her virginity? It’s not art…it’s vanity!
Report Post »skepticalbecausesomeoneneedstobe
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:33amwho cares??
Report Post »if she wants do to it and people wanna go watch, who cares??
lets em do their thing.
babylonvi
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:33amDoes this mean there will be only one performance?
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 6:58amLoL!!!
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:17pmYes, and they’re expecting the baby to come out on cue. Bring a book to read.
Report Post »UlyssesP
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:30amI call dibs on the signed after-birth!
Report Post »Cosmos102
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:22amThis woman should be written up for child endangerment. This is sickening. I’m sure Hollywood approves of it though.
Report Post »Islesfordian
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 3:19pmNonsense. The child is not endangered.
Let’s keep the governemnt out of these things. I thought we were conservatives.
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:05amCosmo- fascist much?
Report Post »shackero
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:18amIs nothing sacred any longer?
Report Post »unmutual
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:16amThis still doesn‘t beat Karen Finley’s Yam Jam.
Report Post »CatB
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:13amP.T. Barnum was right .. there is a “sucker” born every minute ….. and the suckers are the audience.
Report Post »LiberalMarine
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:11amWho are any of you to say what is and isn’t art? That’s one of the great things about art, it’s in the eye of the beholder.
Report Post »Cosmos102
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:25amThis is more like Narcissistic attention grabbing than art, if you ask me.
Report Post »TyrannyNoMore
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:02amLiberal Marine?? Yeah…..right, that’s like being a dwarf basketball player. Very rare indeed.
Report Post »bolsen00
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 1:03amOh please…she’s obviously a drama queen who loves an audience! Everyone has beautiful special moments in their life…only a vain person wants an audience for all of them! Did she have an audience when her grandmother died too? We didn’t need to be there for her potty training either…but I’m sure that poor child will be subjected to the stupidity! With both parents being so-called artists(?) This child will be as vain as they are. People should stay home and refuse to perpetuate the stupidity!
Report Post »The Giver
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:04pmOur entire lives are really a culmination of God’s artistic prowess. Making a really good bunch of pancakes is art to me… but sometimes you have to open your eyes and see things for what they are. She’s a very insecure woman in need of attention.
Report Post »knighttemplar999
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:09amThere used to be some woman performance artist who would open up some canned yams and stuff them up her butt on stage. She was one of those bald ultra feminist man hater types who said her “performance” symbolized the violence of men against women. A really good music writer wrote about her bull sheet and got fired for his mocking her.
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:07amReally? There are people out there who have some kind of need to see a woman give birth? There are numerous videos already out there that you rent or see in a birthing class. What’s so special about seeing this woman give birth?
Report Post »The Giver
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 2:12pmHey K999, if men didn’t frequent strip clubs, there’d be no job for strippers. This woman is everything you say… but she wouldn’t do it if it were going to be before an empty room.
Report Post »heavyduty
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:07amWell I guess she has to do something to get noticed. I guess her acting isn’t up to snuff. Sort of like Moore. He can‘t get any work unless he’s opening that mouth of his. He and her ought to get married. My goodness “What am I saying!!!” Could you imagine what would come out of that marriage?
Report Post »Bonnieblue2A
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:05amI guess we should be thanking God that she isn’t having an abortion as a “work of art” instead. Pray that the baby survives its twisted mother.
Report Post »floridaborn
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 10:25amI’m afraid that could be next….
Report Post »Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:08amWhat is the problem here? You all are so down on her. Do you regret your own experience? I’m a Christian fundamentally conservative (proverbs 31/titus2) women who might entertain the idea. Birth is cool.
Report Post »Awesome.
God given
a miracle
Libertyluvnmomma
Posted on October 14, 2011 at 10:35pmFloridaborn- If more people knew how horrific abortion was- because it is kept hidden maybe a few more people would be pro-life. Demand that for liberal public school health class.
Report Post »Like Thomas people need touch taste smell and hear.
Grind whir,crunch,suction, blood………………..
biggerbull
Posted on October 13, 2011 at 12:00amSo, are they taking applications for dropping the duce? I can have two shows a day, three if I eat cabbage and beans.
Some things are better left to be personal than out in the open for the world to see. These people are self loathing and shallow.
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