Jess Dobkin
| Jess Dobkin | |
|---|---|
|
Jess Dobkin, Lactation Station promotional photo | |
| Born | 1970 |
| Alma mater | Oberlin College, Rutgers University |
| Known for | performance art |
| Notable work | Lactation Station Breast Milk Bar (2006) |
| Movement | Feminism, Queer, LGBT |
| Website |
jessdobkin |
Jess Dobkin (born 1970) is a performance artist who emerged in Toronto, Canada in 2002.[1] She is best known for her 2006 work The Lactation Station.
She has a B.A. in Women’s Studies from Oberlin College, and an M.F.A. in Performance Art from Rutgers University. She is a Fellow at the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Studies at the University of Toronto.
Career
Dobkin's work draws on her experience as a lesbian and a mother.[2] Her body often figures prominently in her performances, such as Fee for Service a performance installation where audience members were invited to sharpen a pencil in Dobkin's vagina.[3]
Dobkin has collaborated with other performance artists, including Martha Wilson, founder of the Franklin Furnace Archive. Dobkin is also known as a community organizer and often combines this with her creative work. In May 2015, after a successful crowdfunding campaign, she collaborated with many Toronto artists to create an alternative newsstand in a vacant kiosk at the Chester Subway Station for one year. The newsstand provides artists space to exhibit their work, providing a "creative exchange" for the commuters at the same time it sells newspapers, magazines, and snacks for a "monetary exchange."[4]
Major exhibitions
In 2006, Dobkin exhibited The Lactation Station in Toronto at the Ontario College of Art and Design's Professional Gallery, curated by Paul Couillard of FADO.[5] In this exhibition, Dobkin invited audience members to sample human breast milk. The exhibition, which was partly funded by the Canada Council for the Arts,[6] gained widespread attention and prompted Health Canada to issue a national warning against the online sale of human breast milk.[7] It was remounted in 2012 as part of the OFFTA Festival in Montreal.[8]
- How Many Performance Artists Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb (For Martha Wilson), Images Festival, 2015
- Everything I've Got, 2010
- The Lactation Station, Ontario College of Art and Design Professional Gallery, 2006
Works
- How Many Performance Artists Does it Take to Change a Light Bulb (For Martha Wilson), 2015
- The Performance Art Army, 2014
- Acting/Performing/Audience, 2014 (co-directed with Shannon Cochrane)
- Performance Artist for Hire, 2013
- Free Childcare Provided, 2013
- Affirmations for Artists, 2012
- Bleeding at the Ball, 2011
- Everything I've Got, 2010
- Being Green, 2009
- Mirror Ball, 2008-2009
- Clown Car, 2008
- The Lactation Station, 2006-2012
- Fee for Service, 2006
- Emergency Exits, 2006
- Restored, 2004
- Attending, 2003-2005
- The Two Boobs, 2003
- Composite Body, 2003
- The Mad Chef, 2000-2003
- Six Degrees of Lesbian Nation, 2003
- Magic Trick, 2003
- An Ontario Bride Seeks American Wives, 2003
- Talk to Me, 2001
Personal life
Dobkin is a lesbian and mother of a daughter.[9]
References
- ↑ Gillespie, Benjamin (Winter 2012). "Giving us 'Everything She's Got': Processing the Script-as-Archive in Jess Dobkin's Queer Performance Art". Canadian Theatre Review. 149: 52.
- ↑ Reeve, Charles (2012). Rachel Epp Buller, ed. Reconciling Art and Mothering. Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 125–136. ISBN 978-1-4094-2613-4.
- ↑ Krpan, Pike (2009). "Body of Work". Shameless. Winter: 30.
- ↑ Clarke, Katrina. "Artists take over Chester subway station newsstand for one year". The Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ↑ Rogerson, Stephanie (July 20, 2006). "Sense and sensibilities: FADO performance gives new meaning to the term "good taste"" (71). NOW Magazine.
- ↑ Clarke, Katrina. "Artists take over Chester subway station newsstand for one year". The Star. Toronto Star. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ↑ Weeks, Carly (July 13, 2006). "Human milk sold online carries HIV risk: warning". The Ottawa Citizen.
- ↑ Chan, Crystal. "Breast milk's on tap at the OFFTA with Jess Dobkin's Lactation Station". nightlife.ca. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
- ↑ Fuhrmann, Mike (June 15, 2006). "Performance artist offers breast milk tastings". Toronto Star.