I've Only Known My Own

"I’ve Only Known My Own is a group exhibition of new performance works that explore how the materiality of the body is translated or communicated through measurements, process, technology, and documentation. This exhibition looks at how the matter of the body might become a tool or force that generates or expresses its own (il/logical) systems, and thinks through how this material embodiment might function as a form of resistance. Rather than presenting a fixed set of works, the exhibition will evolve over the course of its three-week run, with objects, props, and works being set in motion during the presentation of each of the 4 performances. Inhabiting the quasi-domestic architecture of the gallery, the artists will work within the rooms of She Works Flexible’s Flex Space, gradually interacting with the space and leaving traces behind." -- Publisher's website

The Dematerialization of the Craft Object: Performance Art and Contemporary Craft

Craft and performance art are both experiencing renewed significance within contemporary art. Correspondingly, practices, exhibitions, and works that combine features of both craft and performance art are appearing in the form of collaborative crafting, documentation of crafting events, live and public performance of craft work, and crafting as a tool for social and political projects. This thesis addresses the intersections of craft and performance art in select artworks and curatorial strategies from the exhibitions Common Threads at the Illingworth Kerr Gallery in Calgary (2007), She Will Always Be Younger Than Us at the Textile Museum of Canada in Toronto (2009), and Gestures of Resistance at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland (2010). Centering on presentations that foreground the performance of crafting or craft-making as the central mode of the work, I argue that a comprehensive reading of these works must situate them not only within the history of craft, but also within the history and theories of performance art. By examining and drawing upon the history and strategies of performance art, this thesis proposes that the incorporation of performance art into craft calls into question the traditional view of craft as an object-centred practice. The notion of a dematerialized craft practice is considered in light of recent developments in craft theory that propose thinking about craft not as a set of objects or materials, but rather as form of knowledge or a as subject

Asexuality: Classification and characterization

This is a post-print version of the article. The official published version can be obtaineed at the link below.The term “asexual” has been defined in many different ways and asexuality has received very little research attention. In a small qualitative study (N = 4), individuals who self-identified as asexual were interviewed to help formulate hypotheses for a larger study. The second larger study was an online survey drawn from a convenience sample designed to better characterize asexuality and to test predictors of asexual identity. A convenience sample of 1,146 individuals (N = 41 self-identified asexual) completed online questionnaires assessing sexual history, sexual inhibition and excitation, sexual desire, and an open-response questionnaire concerning asexual identity. Asexuals reported significantly less desire for sex with a partner, lower sexual arousability, and lower sexual excitation but did not differ consistently from non-asexuals in their sexual inhibition scores or their desire to masturbate. Content analyses supported the idea that low sexual desire is the primary feature predicting asexual identity