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Peers Manifesto Toiletry acts are usually performed privately in restrooms, but occasionally in public for the sake of deviance or fetish. The taboo of public toiletry may seem to have roots in cultural modesty of one’s “private parts.” I, however, believe that man urinates in solitude not to hide his penis, but rather to hide digestive conclusion. This project focuses on and celebrates the finale. Private bodily function is the inverse of consumption. Eating is a celebration: historically public ingestion asserts your social class. Food is often a way to spend time with peers, but when it comes to expelling that Chow Mien, one must show humility and retreat to the toilet. If humans urinated and defecated out of their mouths or noses it undoubtedly would still be done in private. In contrast to current customs, ancient Roman bathrooms had no privacy at all. The toilets were holes in a stone bench at which people would discuss politics or other topics while performing bodily functions. Something happened to create humility. This project's installation transports private toilet sounds into the public. A microphone in one toilet of this restroom captures and amplifies any urinary or defecation audio through the PA speaker above. It is the choice of the user whether or not to use the toilet, as several warnings are apparent. The user, by choosing the particular toilet, becomes the artist who performs for any passersby. To some, the act of exposing your private sounds may be shameless exhibitionism, but it is a liberating experience. This particular bathroom is unisex and is locked behind the user so that he/she is alone. Paradoxically, the room consists of three toilets separated into private stalls for added privacy. In fact, one to two million Americans cannot urinate while someone else is in the restroom. The shy bladder, called “avoidance paruresis,” is muscle tension caused by anxiety. Those affected no doubt are normally able to perform in this bathroom, but will they while being broadcast? In a sense, the user is alone, but the knowledge of potential listeners may cause enough tension to halt any activity even in those not affected by shy bladder. Americans value their privacy, but for what reason? By publicizing the consuming climax, this project hopes to unite all the students and professors who use this “great equalizer” as we all create similar broadcasts. |