Brooklyn Performance Artist Gives Birth In Gallery, As Planned

Marni Kotak, the Brooklyn artist who planned to give birth as performance art, has delivered a healthy baby boy. The little guy came into the world yesterday surrounded by his father, doula, midwife, and of course, patrons of the gallery.

Ajax, as his parents have named him, was quite big, weighing  nine pounds and two ounces. A writer for the Village Voice went to the gallery shortly after the birth and described all to be well:

Kotak calmly eating a banana, the placenta in a bowl and the baby’s father, Jason, holding his son who was wrapped in a blue towel. The beautiful baby boy was wide-eyed, and as quiet as could be, staring blankly into the camera and video lenses that hovered above him.

Because the exhibit is intended to run through November 7th, the Microscope Gallery intends to run video of Ajak’s birth until the exhibit closes. But Marni isn’t exactly stepping off stage yet. She’s already at work on her next performance piece, “Raising Baby X.” According to Marni’s website, she plans to “re-conceptualize” the experience of caring for her baby with memoirs, photos, and journal entries. She also plans to address social issues that contemporary parents often confront such as the influence of media, work-life balance, and whether to get a child vaccinated.

Marni may be a flash in the pan, but her insistence that birth and motherhood are both art is a tribute to mothers everywhere.

(photo: washingtonpost.com)