The Udder and The Milkmaid's Dance

The Udder is a latex installation suspended from the ceiling, allowing visitors to stand beneath it. Inside the
flexible material, a hidden mechanism circulates milk from a tub back into the udder. In the opening performance, “The Milkmaids Dance”, three milkmaids will drink from the udder, while moving sensually, eroticising the white liquid they are showering under to display the connection of humans and the udder. The performance aims to make the work accessible to the public and raise the question of the spectators own personal relationship to animal products. The distinct performers cleanse themselves of consumerism—or perhaps revel in the exploitation of another species. The dance critiques the oversexualization of anything remotely associated with the feamle body.

The udder’s resemblance to the human breast is leveraged to evoke themes of motherhood and femininity. Milk, a rich, white, and thick liquid, is promoted as vital for human health, particularly for making children-especially young boys—strong and healthy. Ironically, the reality involves the separation of cow mothers and calves to give milk. Cows are selectively bred to produce more milk and are artificially inseminated to sustain the cycle. Humanity has a long history of interfering with nature's ecological cycles, and, in doing so, contributing to climate catastrophes.