VIP
created and directed by Rachel Gita Karp
Developed through residencies at Monson Arts - Winter 2021
and Marble House Project - Fall 2022
Finalist, Creative Capital Award, 2022
Jane is the star of a hit TV cooking show. But on tonight’s show she’s not following recipes for sourdough loaves or sheet pan dinners—she’s whipping up recipes for abortifacients: compounds that cause abortions. Spanning the length of U.S. history and projecting into the future, VIP goes on the wild rides of the country's abortion stories through the ways people have procured abortions and the ways the public, the state, and the medical profession have responded. Set in a kitchen--the private sphere where women have long been told to stay--but in front of a public audience--where women's roles have long been debated, VIP asks if people getting abortions in the U.S. have ever been treated like VIPs and what the country would look like if they were.
As the abortion landscape changes rapidly, VIP has shifted in response, manifesting in a variety of iterations including: a solo experience based in history; a zine based in the future; and a multi-layered event centering those who have been deprived of care and what we can do to help them—and ourselves.
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF ABORTION
Presented at Monson Arts, December 2021,
for one person at a time,
featuring:
abortion history, abortion recipes, chocolate chip cookies, Cabernet, Julia Child, VIP cakes, and consented conversation
Experience, design, and photos by Rachel Gita Karp
(Pictured: audience member and fellow Monson Arts resident Becky Bailey moving through the experience.)
ABORTION FUTURES
In May 2022, Becky Bailey and I collaborated on a zine imaging the abortion futures we all need. We were invited by visual artist Lydia Nobles to make this zine as part of her As I Sit Waiting series, and we based the zine on interviews with dozens of people who shared that they want abortion care to look like in the United States. The Zine has been included in Abortion Stories Interactive Art Festival, Anarchist Book Fair, 20/20 Photo Festival, and more.
ZONE IMPROVEMENT PLAN
Presented at Marble House Project, September 2022
featuring:
the history of the Zone Improvement Plan (aka ZIP codes), the writing of all 9,000+ zip codes where abortion has become illegal since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and a library of materials to learn how to protect ourselves in the face of such abuse.
PHOTOS BY AMY RITTER
(Pictured: audience members and fellow Marble House residents Alexis Covento and Asia Stewart moving through the experience.)