Darcy Schmidt Design

"Penis Outfit" for Contemporary Adornment by Dr Darcy at Strut Your Stuff

Penis Outfit" (scrotum piercing demo) Darcy Schmidt © 1996 polyester batting, foam rubber, stretch knit, mixed fibres Click here for a 30 second performance video clip or Click here for the entire performance plus a 1 minute intro (14 min 30 sec total)

This Penis Outfit was my first really big sculptural costume. Back in those days I didn't use a sewing machine so everything was done by hand. My buddy Donna Brown sewed the zipper into the penis, though, to make it really strong. Otherwise it was just me with a needle and thread and sore fingers. It isn't easy hand sewing through 1" foam rubber (the head) or polyester batting (the shaft, scrotum and testes). The Penis Outfit was created for a performance art event called "Strut Your Stuff" early in 1996. "Strut" was organized by SAW Gallery and held at the Atelier in Ottawa as part of the ARCO (Artist Run Centres of Ontario) conference. I did a genital piercing demonstration on this outfit for a rather boozed-up crowd. I started off with a verbal piercing survey of the audience, 'whoever has their ears pierced, give yourselves a round of applause', etc. I gradually surveyed from eyebrow, nose and tongue to the navel and areas south of the border. Remember, this was OTTAWA in early '96 and although a lot of kids were starting to get a lot of piercings, not everyone had them everywhere... yet. After my line of questioning moved below the face there was just one person who was clapping to everything I asked about, and I was thinking 'wow, must be brutal going through airport security". Then I talked about the cultural and historical significance of various genital piercings and showed where they would go on the body of the outfit. 'The Hafada piercing goes through the scrotum about here, and the Ampallang goes right through the head around here...' Apparently the "Prince Albert" (also known as a "dressing ring") was popular in Victorian times to keep a gentleman's "bits" all tucked away in compliance with the really tight trousers that were fashionable. It's named for Prince Albert who, rumour has it, had one and used it to keep his foreskin pulled back so his "unit" would stay sweet smelling for the Queen. After my dialogue I took a big swig of faux booze and passed a sharp, gargantuan wooden dowel through a "pre-pierced" part of the outfit's scrotum and fitted it out with an oversized bangle. I could hear a lot of guys groaning in the audience all doubled over, like they'd just been "bagged". It's amazing how squeamish people get when you make a hole in some stretch knit fabric. Anyway, the crowd ROARED with applause, and people came up to me afterward and thanked me as it had been "very educational". I wore this outfit again at "The Edge II", plus at the vernissage for "Sexhibition" and at the first ever "Black Tie 2 Bondage".

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