June 15, 2006 - 18:52 By: MIKE FUHRMANN
TORONTO (CP) - A performance artist is inviting people to "quench their curiosity" and taste samples of pasteurized human breast milk at her upcoming show.
Jess Dobkin has titled her work the Lactation Station Breast Milk Bar.
"Participants will have the opportunity to sample small quantities of breast milk, donated by local lactating new mothers at this free public tasting," said a news release.
The work will be staged July 13 at the Ontario College of Art and Design Professional Gallery.
Dobkin, described in the release as a single lesbian mother of a one-year-old daughter, said in an interview that the event will be in the spirit of a wine tasting.
"It will be like an actual bar with bar stools and . . . there will be tasting menus," she said Thursday. "I'll be bartending."
Dobkin said she's not worried about running out of the milk donated by six women for the show.
"The women donated generously. And people are going to be tasting small quantities of the milk. It's not going to be like 'here's a glass of milk for you.' I'm going to ration it out."
Dobkin, who has given performances and presented artist's talks and workshops at galleries and universities throughout North America, said she became interested in taboos surrounding breastfeeding.
"This project re-contextualizes something often regarded as indecent or repellent, offering a celebratory view," the 36-year-old Toronto-based artist said in the release.
"A substance that nourishes us in our infancy later becomes a curiosity in adulthood. Though many drink it exclusively for the first months of life, the memory of that taste and the sensation of drawing milk from the breast are forgotten. No two women's milk tastes the same, and is influenced by things we ingest and our unique biology."
As for possible health concerns, a publicist for the show said Dobkin is using the same screening and pasteurization process as a Vancouver breast milk bank.
"She contacted them and got their health and safety procedures and that's what she's following," said Amy Stewart of DW Communications.
The Lactation Station Breast Milk Bar is partly funded by a $9,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts.
