Utterly Speechless

[rogue06]

Saw this story linked to on “The Drudge Report”: SHOCK: Yale senior ‘induced abortions on herself’ for art project… (http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24513)

Art major Aliza Shvarts '08 wants to make a statement.

Beginning next Tuesday, Shvarts will be displaying her senior art project, a documentation of a nine-month process during which she artificially inseminated herself "as often as possible" while periodically taking abortifacient drugs to induce miscarriages. Her exhibition will feature video recordings of these forced miscarriages as well as preserved collections of the blood from the process.

The goal in creating the art exhibition, Shvarts said, was to spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body. But her project has already provoked more than just debate, inciting, for instance, outcry at a forum for fellow senior art majors held last week. And when told about Shvarts' project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock . saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

Shvarts realizes that her art project might upset “some people” but claims that it wasn’t intended for “shock value.”

I really don’t know what to say that is printable here.


ETA: The Yale Daily News has put up the following message at the top of the page: "We are currently being linked to by the Drudge Report and are receiving an above average amount of traffic. As such, we are showing this story for a bit until things calm down," so I don't know how long it'll remain available.

[Sparko]

how horrible.

She sounds sociopathic.


edit to add:

I can't believe that Yale let this travesty be shown!

[Crow]

Like you, rogue, I can think of quite a bit to say on this subject. And like you, much of it is not printable.

[Philosophickle]

I think that some people think "art" means anything whatever. Sick.

[JonLanceBarker]

:hurl:

[dizzle]

sociopath

[Hamster]

That is so monsterous it almost sounds like something out of a dark book or a play.

Although I'm a little taken back by people on a certain "end" of the abortion debate saying that it "trivializes abortion." If their point of view is that fetuses are non-human bits of parasitic tissue, then abortion is a pretty trivial process.

[A-Man]

This is one of the most perverse actions I've ever read about. I don't know whether to cry or vomit. How can Yale permit this??

[mostlyharmless]

Too disgusting for words.

[Pilgrim]

This is one of the most perverse actions I've ever read about. I don't know whether to cry or vomit. How can Yale permit this??

I agree one hundred percent. I have literally lost my lunch over this just now. I think I'm going over to the sanctuary and I'm going to cancel the rest of my day and just pray.

[Brandalf85]

That's disgusting and sick. Shows you what "art" means these days: not much.

[Crow]

From article quoted in OP--

And when told about Shvarts' project, students on both ends of the abortion debate have expressed shock . saying the project does everything from violate moral code to trivialize abortion.

More like strike home how wrong abortion on demand is. That human life can be taken for the sake of convenience. Or for shock value. Or even just for the sheer hell of it.

Yup, hell. There is something unspeakably evil about killing a human being so casually, with such a lack of concern or conscience, for a senior project. It makes me want to vomit.

[Hamster]

Why do these so-called "art critics" think they can judge what she wants to do with her own body? Her body, her choice; Deal With It.

[rogue06]

From the article cited in the OP:

The official reception for the Undergraduate Senior Art Show will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on April 25. The exhibition will be on public display from April 22 to May 1. The art exhibition is set to premiere alongside the projects of other art seniors this Tuesday, April 22 at the gallery of Holcombe T. Green Jr. Hall on Chapel Street.

I can only encourage anyone else participating in this exhibition to please pull their works from it and refuse to participate in this monstrosity.

[Hamster]

remember when a cross in a jar of urine was outrageous? The good ol days . . .

[Bill the Cat]

Yale... 'nuff said. :no:

[RumTumTugger]

Oh Dear Lord when is enough enough. :sad:

[Soyeong]

Can we arrest her for multiple homicide...please?

[Meh_Gerbil]

The poor child.

She has artistic aspirations but she's been raised in a society that has taught her art is about shocking people. She has been driven off course and stands next to no chance of ever finding the simple child like joy one can experience in pursuing beauty.

She'll probably spend the rest of her life pursuing ugliness and shock value - and for what - money?

This person should be pitied.

Here the noble pursuit of beauty and expression has been replaced with the ugly and repulsive.
Here the noble pursuit of higher truth and wisdom has been replaced with degredation.
Here the noble pursuit of one's own humanity has been replaced with a denial of that humanity.

She is destroying herself.

[Rayado]

Lord, have mercy. :frown: :pray:

[The Moonshield]

The wanton killing of human life caught on tape and shown to the world for the sake of "inspiring discourse." This they call art.

Monsters.

[rogue06]

The poor child.

She has artistic aspirations but she's been raised in a society that has taught her art is about shocking people. She has been driven off course and stands next to no chance of ever finding the simple child like joy one can experience in pursuing beauty.

She'll probably spend the rest of her life pursuing ugliness and shock value - and for what - money?

This person should be pitied.

Here the noble pursuit of beauty and expression has been replaced with the ugly and repulsive.
Here the noble pursuit of higher truth and wisdom has been replaced with degredation.
Here the noble pursuit of one's own humanity has been replaced with a denial of that humanity.

She is destroying herself.

I absolutely agree. When I first read about it I was so enraged with her, but now I realize she really needs our prayers.

[Adrift]

Absolutely heartbreaking.

[rogue06]

Vigilante has started another thread, I also find murder rather artful (http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/showthread.php?t=111697), in the Civics section for those who want to comment but can’t post here. He also has another link to the story in case the first one goes down: Yale student has multiple abortions in the name of art (http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/sex/yale-student-has-multiple-abortions-in-the-name-of-art-160308/)

[Chaotic Void]

*Attempting to refrain from making Jay from Clerks sound like a Priest*

That's just Messed...

[element771]

This really disturbed me. I haven't read anything this horrific in a long long time. All I could do was think of my 6 month old.

I really don't even know what to say.

[Shadow Phoenix]

I pray for this soul indeed. This is someone who really needs to know how valuable and sacred her own life really is and those of the children she's destroying. She bears God's image after all.

[Michelle]

So sad :frown: :pray:

[JenSen]

I don't think any of us here understand this kind of mindset because it's completely alien, foreign, to us. Human life, in our worldview, is so precious... and the first reaction I had here was horror and shock. To even be so casual about abortion, about losing a pregnancy, that truly made my jaw drop. And then I realized that to this young woman, she sees these pregnancies as nothing more than more material for her art project. Literally. And I felt deep, deep pity. And I'll be praying for her.

[Brandalf85]

This makes this no less sick but it turns out...it's a HOAX!

Read this...this might even be worse in some ways...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080418/D903VVSO0.html

[Philosophickle]

This makes this no less sick but it turns out...it's a HOAX!

Read this...this might even be worse in some ways...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080418/D903VVSO0.html


...

[Ryokan]

This makes this no less sick but it turns out...it's a HOAX!

Read this...this might even be worse in some ways...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080418/D903VVSO0.html

That's a relief. I usually don't buy these outrageous stories, but for whatever reason I really sick over this one. So, instead of being some horrible murderess she is jsut a dumb college b****. Not good, but pretty much dime a dozen.
Even when a person acts in a reprehensible way, profanity, even when partially veiled, is not permissible.

[Philosophickle]

Our best and brightest ladies and gents...

[Ryokan]

Our best and brightest ladies and gents...

Well, our richest and snobbiest anyway. Its Yale, after all.

[rogue06]

This makes this no less sick but it turns out...it's a HOAX!

Read this...this might even be worse in some ways...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080418/D903VVSO0.html

God I hope this is true that it's just a sick hoax

A Yale University art student duped the student newspaper with a story about inducing repeated abortions on herself and using the blood for her senior art project, the school said Thursday.
The story about Aliza Shvarts' project, published Thursday in the Yale Daily News, swept across blogs and media outlets - including the Drudge Report, Fox News and The Washington Post - before Yale issued a statement saying it investigated and found it all to be a hoax that was Shvarts' idea of elaborate "performance art."

"The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman's body," said Yale spokeswoman Helaine Klasky.
Shvarts' "performance art" included visual representations, a news release and other narrative materials, Klasky said. When confronted by three senior Yale officials, including two deans, Shvarts acknowledged that she did not seek any abortions.

[Shadow Phoenix]

What's bad though is that even if it is a hoax, I still could see in our society someone capable of doing that.

That which is unthinkable starts becoming more and more thinkable every day.

[Ryokan]

Excuse me, I jsut saw a picutre of the girl. Rich, HIPSTER, snob.

[Rayado]

Ambiguity? I'd say that was the last thing that crossed everyone's mind with this.

[Soyeong]

This shows abortion at it's worst and as far as I can tell, everything she did was legal. What laws, if any, should be put in place that would still allow abortion but prevent something like this from actually happening?

[Chocobear]

Gee! Her parents must be so proud! :ahem:

Seems to me that she's someone who's too lazy to actually work for her grade, and who's more content with playing with people's minds. She also seems to be too cowardly to talk to people about her misdeeds. :eek: :outtie:

[Sparko]

what scares me, is.... was it really a hoax or did she get so much negative responses that she is now claiming it is a hoax to mitigate the damage she caused?

[MooseOnTheLoose]

Clearly there is a need to be concerned about this girl and I'm encouraged by those here who have expressed a wish to pray for her.

[Ryokan]

what scares me, is.... was it really a hoax or did she get so much negative responses that she is now claiming it is a hoax to mitigate the damage she caused?
Reflecting back on the course of the story, I am guessing it was a hoax. Really, when you get over the shock and you read her pre-reveal interviews it sounds like a hoax. Additionally, I question how many times a person could get pregnant and miscarry in a 9 month period.

Edit: Proving yet again I am an idiot and humanity sucks, the girl is now saying it is NOT a hoax, sorta. What she did, I guess, was try to inseminate herself a bunch of times, and thenuse herbal abortificants at the end of every month, making herself bleed, which she then displays. I am not entirely sure if this is an miscarriage, or what the hell it is. She doesn't seem to have a real clear gasp on how her body works, and I don't understand what the result of this would be except for unhealthy. Anyways, until her sperm donors come forward, or don't, we won't really know how accurate she is being. She may have actually done what she said, or jsut trying to save her performance piece and piss off Yale.

[Chaotic Void]

This makes this no less sick but it turns out...it's a HOAX!

Read this...this might even be worse in some ways...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080418/D903VVSO0.html

:eww: I don't know which is worse... that she said she was going to do it or the fact she said it just to spark controversy


ETA: In retrospect, i don't even think the project would have been doable. I've heard that the more miscarriages [or Abortions] a woman has, the harder it is for her to get pregnant. After a certain number, it's near impossible to have a kid [the number varies per woman, I think]. If this is true, then
A)She'll have one helluva time conceiving when she WANTS to have kids.
B)She might not be able to even finish the "project" depending how many times she's planning on repeating the cycle and depending if she hits "that number" during one of the cycles.

[Sparko]

Reflecting back on the course of the story, I am guessing it was a hoax. Really, when you get over the shock and you read her pre-reveal interviews it sounds like a hoax. Additionally, I question how many times a person could get pregnant and miscarry in a 9 month period.

Edit: Proving yet again I am an idiot and humanity sucks, the girl is now saying it is NOT a hoax, sorta. What she did, I guess, was try to inseminate herself a bunch of times, and thenuse herbal abortificants at the end of every month, making herself bleed, which she then displays. I am not entirely sure if this is an miscarriage, or what the hell it is. She doesn't seem to have a real clear gasp on how her body works, and I don't understand what the result of this would be except for unhealthy. Anyways, until her sperm donors come forward, or don't, we won't really know how accurate she is being. She may have actually done what she said, or jsut trying to save her performance piece and piss off Yale.

yeah I was afraid of that. She says she really did do the insemination and abortions but dont know if she was actually pregnant or not. I can only hope she wasn't. Whether she exibits or not, she is still a sick, depraved person.

[Ryokan]

yeah I was afraid of that. She says she really did do the insemination and abortions but dont know if she was actually pregnant or not. I can only hope she wasn't. Whether she exibits or not, she is still a sick, depraved person.

Whether she did it or not that was a given. I am wondering what "herbal abortificant" she used. Most of them are bs.

[A-Man]

Friday update:

http://www.yaledailynews.com/articles/view/24530


....And while some news stories late Thursday dismissed Shvarts.s exhibition as a wholesale hoax, the Davenport senior showed elements of her planned exhibition to News reporters, including footage from tapes she plans to play at the exhibit. The tapes depict Shvarts, sometimes naked, sometimes clothed, alone in a shower stall bleeding into a cup. It was all part of a project that Shvarts said had the backing of the dean of her residential college and at least two faculty members within the School of Art.

Davenport College Dean Craig Harwood . whom Shvarts said supported the project . and Shvarts.s thesis adviser, School of Art lecturer Pia Lindman, could not be reached for comment Thursday. The director of undergraduate studies in the School of Art, Henk van Assen, referred a request for comment to Yale.s Office of Public Affairs.

[Philosophickle]

I can't take the drama anymore. I'm going to assume she is a crazed-murderer of children until proven innocent.

[rogue06]

Yale has released the following statement (http://www.yale.edu/opa/) about this entire affair:

New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008

Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.

She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.

Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.

When Klasky says that Shvarts's project, "if real," violates "basic ethical standards," what kind of ethical standards does she have in mind?

Basically, there are two different types of ethical systems, and it isn't clear which kind Klasky is applying. Is it a moral principle (that is, a theory about right and wrong, which is relevant to everybody), or is it a code of professional conduct (which only applies to those within a profession or particular institution). So which one is it?

[JenSen]

Yale has released the following statement (http://www.yale.edu/opa/) about this entire affair:

New Haven, Conn. — April 17, 2008

Ms. Shvarts is engaged in performance art. Her art project includes visual representations, a press release and other narrative materials. She stated to three senior Yale University officials today, including two deans, that she did not impregnate herself and that she did not induce any miscarriages. The entire project is an art piece, a creative fiction designed to draw attention to the ambiguity surrounding form and function of a woman’s body.

She is an artist and has the right to express herself through performance art.

Had these acts been real, they would have violated basic ethical standards and raised serious mental and physical health concerns.

When Klasky says that Shvarts's project, "if real," violates "basic ethical standards," what kind of ethical standards does she have in mind?

Basically, there are two different types of ethical systems, and it isn't clear which kind Klasky is applying. Is it a moral principle (that is, a theory about right and wrong, which is relevant to everybody), or is it a code of professional conduct (which only applies to those within a profession or particular institution). So which one is it?

Emphasis mine.

I think her "performance art", as it's called, raises mental health concerns anyhow.

[The Curtmudgeon]

Latest update (Tuesday, 22 Apr):
Yale University followed through on its warning Tuesday and banned a student's "abortion art" project from the opening of a campus exhibit after she continued to deny that she fabricated shocking stories of multiple inseminations and self-induced miscarriages.

Senior Aliza Shvarts' controversial piece still could be included in the student show, which runs through May 1, Yale officials indicated.

"Her exhibit is not on display, but it's unresolved as to whether it will be," said Yale spokesman Tom Conroy, suggesting discussions were in progress between the university and Shvarts.

The (bold emphasis in original article) Curtmudgeon

[Spiritus Naturae]

Wow...the fact that they are even debating as to whether or not her 'work' should be exhibited is really, really sad...

This young lady is certainly mentally ill and, do I dare say it, what she has done is absolutely evil. No room for ambiguity here. Saying something is evil these days is very unpopular, I know, but I gotta call it like I see it.

As was pointed out earlier though, her evil is simply symptomatic of a world gone mad.