I am a retired obstetrician-gynecologist who has been fortunate to live and work in the wonderful community of Durango, Colorado for 40 years. My latest effort is to coin a new genre of art: contraceptual art. Soon I’ll post some pictures, but here are a few words about it:
I first learned about Conceptual Art from a wonderful lecture on genres of art. The concept idea of making Contraceptual Art immediately jumped into my head. After all, I am a population activist and my professional life has been devoted to helping people to have control over their fertility.
What is Conceptual Art? One definition is: “In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work.â€
What is Contraceptual Art? that has yet to be decided!
Who knows what our lives would be like if we did not have the option of safe, effective means to limit our family size! Yet there are over 200 million women worldwide who lack access to modern contraception. Fewer people will help make the world more harmonious.
Our world is already overdeveloped and overpopulated. I fear for the world that our three granddaughters will know. Will we have left them with a world of war and disease? I am saddened that we are driving species to extinction at a rate that is perhaps 1,000 times the normal rate. Will there still be tigers in the wild when our granddaughters are grown?
Whether we like it or not, this country still has Victorian ideals that eschew sexuality despite living in a world where sex is used to sell everything, including chewing gum and candy bars. My hope is that contraceptual art will bring birth control out of doctors’ offices and pharmacies and into people’s minds. And, oh yes, I hope that it will get a few laughs, too!
Thanks for reading!
Richard