Details: September 27th, 2006. See details:
The titles of these elaborate pieces of personal armor are likely to unsettle even the strongest of stomachs: "Saber Tooth Speculum," "Bear Trap Corset" and "Intimate Electric Fence."
These anti-rape devices are part of an exhibit titled "Impenetrable Devices" at the National Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis, Tenn. Ira Sherman created the 16 devices, made mostly from steel, brass and electrical wiring, which are intended as a provocative artistic statement, rather than for actual use.
But the disturbing nature of the work has prompted criticism that public money is helping finance an exhibit of "genital armor and castration mechanisms." The museum received a $32,500 grant this year from the state art commission.
Drew Johnson, director of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, said his group opposes all public financing of art exhibits.
"More people are offended by their tax dollars going to support an exhibit that features castration devices"
Sherman interviewed five victims of rape -- one man and four women -- who all expressed the desire to feel safe again.
"When you talk with someone who's been raped, you start getting details that are just horrifying. That horror I transform into my work," Sherman told the Associated Press.
The result are pieces like "The Injector," which can be worn around the hips and employs hypodermic needles that shoot tattoo dye and sedatives into a rapist, immobilizing the attacker and making him identifiable. Another device uses video surveillance to record a possible attack.
"They all said, 'I want to be secure. I want to be behind a security fence,'" Sherman said.
While certainly disturbing, Sherman said that the beauty and intricacy of his work lend it a redemptive quality.
Ira Sherman is the recipient of the 2006 First Place Engineering Ingenuity Award presented by the Kinetic Arts Organization international kinetic art competition.
Ira Sherman recently designed and installed an stunning wall sculpture/recognition plaque on the west wall of the new ADL conference room. The sculpture is fabricated from precision cut stainless steel, glass, aluminum and wood.
