This is a past event
In the 1980s, when menstruaton was generally considered taboo, artist Jay Critchley made art out of discarded plastic tampon applicators washed up and collected on local beaches. With no idea what the items were used for, Critchley could not have known that his curiosity would lead to a decades-long quest to understand and improve issues surrounding menstrual product waste. This talk situates the artist in the wider ‘Environmenstrual’ activist space, coined by the Women’s Environmental Network in the 1970s. Through visual analysis and interviews with the artist, this paper explores the role of art in challenging environmental stigmas associated with menstruation.
Camilla Mork Rostvik joined Aberdeen University at the start of the academic year 2021/22 as lecturer in Modern and Contemporary Art. She specialises in 20th and 21st century visual culture, with a longstanding research interest in the history, cultures, and art of menstruation. Camilla is currently PI of the Wellcome Trust funded Menstruation Research Network UK (2022-2025) and the Scottish Government funded project Arctic Periods: Transnational Knowledge about Menstrual History (2021-22). Her book "Cash Flow. The businesses of menstruation" will be published by UCL Press in a few weeks time.