Let's play a little game of word association. Quick, what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word lingerie? Sex, maybe? Victoria's Secret Angels sprawled out lustily? Does the word make you smile? Blush? Does it make you uncomfortable? For multi-media performer and artist Diana Oh, lingerie stuck in her mind as a loaded concept - a critical site of Barbara Kruger's all too real proclamation that women's bodies have historically been and still are battlegrounds.
Why, she wondered, does it seem that women can’t enjoy wearing lingerie for their own pleasure? Why does it seem to come hand in hand with problems of objectification, degradation and hyper-sexualization? With these questions in mind, she made her war public in summer of 2014, and took to the streets of New York City and later to social media with {my lingerie play}, a series of underground performance installations-- performed in naught but lacy underthings-- to combat the volatile climate for women in the world, calling attention to issues ranging from street harassment to acid attacks and human trafficking.
Oh took the time to answer some of our questions in advance of her final installation, for which she’ll perform a one night only concert-play on July 14th at Joe’s Pub in New York City with {my lingerie band}, an in-depth exploration of her place as a woman in the world as well as a culmination of the frustration, joy, anger and discovery of her journey baring it all in “an effort to provide a saner, safer, more respectful world for women to live.”
How did {my lingerie play} progress and/or change from the first installation to the final, upcoming performance? Was there a lot of tweaking along the way?
{my lingerie play} began as a concert-play that I was writing about my lingerie collection. I found an article written online by an anonymous writer who took pictures of her lingerie collection and told little stories below each snapshot. I thought that would be an incredible idea for a show I wanted to make. So I theatricalized it because I wanted to present a woman on stage in her lingerie feeling very real, very human emotions. But then I quickly realized that the people who needed to see a human woman in lingerie were the people outside of the theatre. And then my room mate found a soapbox outside of our apartment. And then I stood on it in Times Square with brown paper bags. And gave myself the assignment of doing ten Installations on the first day I stood in Times Square. And it was all underground, and I was making it up on the spot. But I had always had the text of the original inception of the concert-play and I knew I wanted to incorporate it somehow within the installations. So in terms of was there a lot of tweaking? Yes, a lot of tweaking because it was being made in very real time.
What was the biggest fear you had to deal with and overcome as you put this on? Did your fellow performers ever help you deal with these fears?
Biggest fear...the first time I took my clothes off. Biggest fear...was actually doing the concert-play. The street installations were easy--because they require so much fed up-ness--fear takes a backseat in those time. Fellow performers being so game and down was exciting but I don't think anyone walked in with fear.
Throughout this process, what has surprised you the most- both in a positive way and a negative way?
Nasty internet comments--wow. Wow. I kinda get why famous celebrities may go crazy in the internet world--the internet is a cruel cruel place. It's also a beautiful place where your message can be heard by many, where people also share their love. But damn, I didn't realize how mean the land of the internet could be. People ragging on my body, how I deserved to raped or killed...I was surprised by the aggression people had against women's bodies. It let me know that something really needed to be said.
You engage people with the "civilian soap box," and in many ways you've engaged more people outside of the project each installation. How have you found people have joined in and responded to the play? Have you found support from male allies as well?
So many male allies. So many. The band has male allies. The best moments of {my lingerie play} were when people stood on the Civilian Soap Box--those were the best moments. Was when strangers, and not performers stood on the soap box in support.
{my lingerie play} mixes performance art, theater, music and even social media engagement. Can you talk about your decision to include so many types of media?
Because I wanted to create my own space for my own authenticity. I wanted to create my own commercial. Because I knew the message couldn't just die in a black box theatre. Because I knew that if we are trying to critique the systems at play, then we have to use the same tools they use--film, visual image, social media. {my lingerie play} Installation 9/10--the concert-play though ties everything together--it offers you only what real live theatre can offer you--full sensory overload. The live medium will always be my favorite way of performing--it's the realest. And I think most valid. Everything else is just a tool for you to use.
You also inject a fair share of humor into the play, especially with Cross-stitching mean comments. How does humor play a role in {my lingerie play}?
Buoyancy is everything. Humor is everything. If you can make people laugh, then they'll listen to anything you have to say.
The Final Installation is a departure from the others in that it's the most traditionally theatrical- how does it align with your other pieces, and why did you choose to end with it for installation 9/10?
Well, you'll find out why it ends at Installation 9/10. {my lingerie play}: Installation 9/10 is the culmination--it brings everyone back into the live theatre--it brings everyone back into you are an audience, we are performers and we are simply having a dialogue. Theatre can be very powerful--if only more people went to the theatre. I wanted to bring people who don't normally go to the theatre to the theatre--and I hope with how {my lingerie play} Installations have been presented that it reaches this goal.
What comes next for you? What do you see for the future of {my lingerie play}?
It keeps going because it's my cultural hub for my and others' authenticity. It gets passed on. It's a place for people to speak their truths. We perform it all over the world. Other people perform it all over the world. We make a documentary. We change the world. We stop the entitlement of women's bodies or at least die trying. We continue speaking. And once we achieve what we want then we celebrate.
What else do we need to know!? How can readers get involved and/or donate?
People can donate here and they can buy their own CATCALLING SUCKS swag here and they can keep up with {my lingerie play} here and they can contact {my lingerie play] here.
