The Menstrual Cycle

This picture here shows the insides of a womens body and a way of visualy recording this. The inside of a body is a constant Cycle because it is constantly working and blood is constantly flowing without us even noticing it

A normal cycle is around 28 days, but a variation of a few days can be quite normal and variations from cycle to cycle is also normal. The cycle starts at the first day of bleeding and lasts the day before your next bleeding.

I looked at The Menstrual Cycle as a possible idea because this is the period of time that every woman would prefere not to experience and many see it as an unpleasent time. I thought that this would be interesting to record as it is not something that is usualy shared with others.

In order to record this I could;
- Make a flip book of a calender and put a star next to each date I start my period and this could show the consistancy or the irregular pattern and Cycle of my period

- I could make lots of videos of different women's blood in the toilet and I could display this in a small room and project lots of different videos playing at different times on all of the walls of women going to the toilet and changing tampons. This would create a disturbing and shocking effect and would make people who entered this room feel like they are intruding in their personal space and it would make the viewers feel uncomfortable. I could then also record lots of womes views of being on their periods and why they do not like it and how it makes them feel and play all of them at the same time to create a dramatic effect

I then decided to use watercolour as Tracey Emin does for her work on the menstrual cycle. Here is what the projected images on the wall would look like.

                                                                         

Here I have done a quick sketch to show what I would want this idea to look like if I displayed it in a room. I doubt that I would be able to carry this idea out becuase I would need to find a room and I would need to find a series of projectors. Also I would need to find a group of people who were willing to share this private information with me and anybody who visited the instillation.

 

- I could photograph lots of different womens facial expressions when they first experience starting their period

- I could make a questionaire and ask different women wether they believe that they should have to pay for tampons or wether it is their right to get them for free

 

I then made a copy of Tracey Emins paintings ^. I found it interesting to explore the depths of colour and the different marks.

 

 

Tracey Emin also uses the idea of the Menstrual Cycle in series of her work. She uses it in a griuesome way just like my idea above. Her work is disturbing to look at as it is intermate and revealing. I find her work extremely inspiring and I love the way that she produces sketches as if they are pages out of her personal diary.