LETTER: The Meyerson bathroom, some photographs, a rationale and an interpretation

Accompanied by a letter from Maria Cox, criticizing the exhibit. Accompanied by a letter from Maria Cox, criticizing the exhibit.To the Editor: The installation was an assignment for the 500-level graduate architecture studio class to build a container for a knife. The assignment required that the container be located within Meyerson Hall, and that its meaning be related to its location. I had no knowledge of any concurrent conference in the building and it was simply installed the day of the critique, as required. My installation entailed a series of photographs with texts questioning the nature of the architectural space leading to the women's room. The intention of these photographs was to heighten observers' awareness of issues related to violence against women. The container itself was installed in the women's room directly above the emergency panic cord. It was a device veiled with silk and imprinted with the words, "Unveil his desire," with the word "desire" crossed out and the word "authority" added on. When the observer pulled a handle, a veil rose to reveal a cement phallic form with a dagger imbedded in it. An attached mirror was positioned to reflect the observer upon activating the device. The knife symbolically equalized the battlefield created by an implied intruder. The observer who activated this device would be made aware of the consciousness of their choice by the reflection of their action in the mirror. This was to make the observer aware that she had chosen to value her own life above her aggressor's at that moment and in that context. The device symbolically offered women the potential to actively protect themselves. The ideas embodied in this piece stand in opposition to the tradition embodied in the emergency panic cord, which teaches women to be passive, to call for help and to wait for rescuers. I ask women to take responsibility to train themselves in self-defense. Women need to accept the fact that violence against women is a powerful pervasive fact stemming from biological, political, social and cultural realities. Women need to face this unjust condition and take steps to deal with it. The University of Pennsylvania does an excellent job of acknowledging this danger. The Escort Service, blue light phones and emergency panic cords are all commendable efforts to deal with this unsavory reality. Like racism, sexism is an evil that cannot be legislated or policed away. When I imagine myself trapped in a room with an intruder and only the pull cord as an option, I am terrified. All of us are taught a level of functional denial about this ubiquitous violent potential. When that denial is unveiled, we are aware of our rage at the untenable situation. This piece is thus the misplaced object for this fear and rage. True optimism is not a view of the world through rose-colored glasses. Rather, it is a search for forceful options in the face of harsh realities. I am not willing to resign myself to a pessimistic life of a victim, at least not without a fight. LAURA BLAW Graduate Student School of Fine Arts

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