The speculum is a device used in most women’s physical exam after puberty.  I was curious about Anarcha - the slave woman whose body the speculum was discovered on.  As there are no records of her point of view, I chose to explore her experience by simulating it.  I invited 30 women to participate in this with me as we all benefit from her sacrifice.

For weeks before the performance, I told Anarcha’s story to the 30 women participants.  We spoke about their experiences in the doctor’s office as well as our assumptions of how Anarcha felt during her surgeries.  On the day of the performance, I lay on a table built by one of the women on stage.  Each of the 30 women was given a numbered placard with a needle and thread and asked to come unto the stage, make a cut into my underwear and sew it back up. 

Under the stage were speakers hooked to a recording device that played a telling of Anarcha’s story.  The audience could hear the story while they witnessed the surgeries.  My role was to be the ‘body’ and to remain present to the rustlings, pulls, pinches, and gaze of the participants and the audience.  When I found my thoughts drifting, I worked to focus it on thoughts of Anarcha and how she must have felt while laying on her back as Sims cut into her and sewed her up. More than 30 times.