Before the days of debit cards the coin purse was a necessary item. Today there are a plethora of these kisslock pockets floating around in flea markets on and off-line. After soliciting friends on social media to assist me in gathering coin purses for this project I got down to business. The purses were cleaned (as needed!) and each one turned inside out. They are made of a variety of fabrics and leather. Some with one layer, others with multiple layers of fabric. I assess each one carefully and after a few pinches, tucks, folds and stitches I say voilà.....a vulva!
Putting images of these transformed coin purses into the world triggers an informative boomerang of ideas, inferred meaning and of course....chuckles. As a collection of objects these coin purses are interesting; as vaginas, they are evocative. I think it was Eva Hesse who said that she used repetition in her art because it recalled the absurdity of life. By eliciting a few changes from a simple object and exaggerating the effect with a grouping of the same, singular but unique objects, I've created a preposterous family of genitalia that speak their own mind.
Are they a simple statement on the variety of vulvae or a call to action against the horrific act of female genital mutilation? Do they comment on the parallel relationship of money and sex, prostitution or the porn industry? How about the age-old ideal of a women's place being solely in the home, subservient to men, caring for home and family?
I debated back and forth on whether to dub these transformed purses as 'coin cunts'. I love words, idioms and word pairings and refer to my dictionary often. The word cunt is marked with a 'usage alert' as a vulgar slang and its use is highly taboo in our society. It is a succinct word, it bites and it has baggage. But it is one of those words that truly embodies its meaning....the entirety of the female genitalia....the cunt. All this to say that no other phrase or word seemed to fit this collective grouping better than 'coin cunts.'
Thank you to all of you who've supported this project so far by sending purses. If you happen to have any spare kisslock coin purses sitting around in your junk drawer I would love to add them to this collection. I'm particularly looking for ones with colorful purse linings. In fact, I received one with a brilliant red interior as I was photographing the collection for this post. You can contact me here for shipping details. I plan to continue adding purses over the next few months until the proper time and place for their exhibition transpires.
Posts
