Videos

Jamie McCartney was invited back to give another talk about his latest genital artworks at the second annual Clitoris Summit. This year he introduced the “internal Affairs” series of internal vagina casts in glass. Doing for vagina diversity what he did for vulva diversity – going where no artist has gone before (sort of!)

Jamie McCartney gives a talk about his genital artworks in relation to his artistic influences and the art history of genitals. In collaboration with WEAM, the Wilzig Erotic Art Museum in Miami, as part of their Tea & Sex series of online talks during their COVID-19 closure.

Maria Marante stops Jamie McCartney, at a Miami Art Week party, for a quick interview about the purpose behind The Great Wall of Vagina Vulva! and the reasons behind the original title…

A short interview with Jamie McCartney at the Brighton Sexual Health Clinic, where he donated a framed print of the The Great Wall of Vagina Vulva!. The clinicians see so many young people who have genital anxiety and asked Jamie if he could help them.

An interview with Jamie McCartney about genital casting as an antidote to genital anxiety.

“When I started Behind Closed Doors it was my intention to only interview women. That all changed a month or so ago when I visited my local Gynaecology clinic and I saw an image on the wall that intrigued me. I did some research and a few emails later here we are…”

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Going outside of your comfort zone: I think the strength of this project is that this isn’t normal, you don’t get to see this normally. You don’t get to see it with your friends. Being in a room with your friends, or with other people, with strangers, looking at women’s genitals isn’t a normal experience for most people. It’s quite a transformative experience, because anything that puts you out of your comfort zone is normally quite helpful in terms of moving you, or shifting some stuff. To begin with, people are a little bit uncomfortable, sometimes they make silly jokes, but that stops after a short while and people really start to look. Then I think they really start to get something out of it, and you see people’s faces change, you see their whole body actually shift. They start to really see what this is all about, and to basically realise that ‘you know what? It doesn’t matter what I look like, I’m going to look like one of these’, and that’s amazing.

Men need to discuss women’s genitals: It’s important for men to talk about this, because very often men are a source of problems for women around this stuff. It’s male discomfort about discussing women’s genitals that can lead to misunderstanding and nasty comments, which in turn can cause relationship problems. Thus if men are half the problem, then ergo they can be half the solution. I think that’s the reason why this is important.

Dying from shame: I think the problem is we have a lot of shame around genitals in our society, which is just really unhelpful. Some people are going to die because of that shame, so I think we have to take it very seriously. I would say go, I’ll come with you, I’ll hold your hand, but just go.

Empowering women: I seem to have become the friendly male face of vaginas, so I guess people seek me out! I agreed to do this because I think it’s really important. My work, this work, is all about empowering women, so this was a no-brainer and I’m very happy to do it.

A part of the body: I guess ‘I Am Adam’ says to me that I am Eve’s partner. We’re in partnership around this stuff, and that’s around everything including our bodies. Partners talk, so for men that find discussing this stuff difficult or complicated, I would say look at me, my face has vaginas plastered all over it and I’m not afraid. I have great conversations with women as a result of not being anxious about this stuff. So, I would say go for it, this is just part of the body and it’s nothing to be ashamed or afraid of.

Jamie was invited to the Philosophical Society at Trinity College Dublin (TDPhil) to argue against the argument that pornography is art.

BUT after much debate with himself he found there was no way available to him to make the distinction and thus argues in favour.

A ten minute fun and informed monologue on the subject by someone who really knows his topic!

Also involved in the debate was Dennis Hof who founded Bunny Ranch brothel in Nevada. It was quite the afternoon!

Gibt es wirklich eine perfekte Vagina? Die Schamlippen durch eine Operation verkleinern zu lassen und somit eine jünger aussehende Vagina zu erhalten, wünschen sich zunehmend mehr Frauen als früher. Wie sieht denn eigentlich eine perfekte Vulva aus, was empfindet ihr als schön? Jamie McCartney hat in seiner “Great Wall of Vagina” Abdrücke von realen Vulvas genommen und bietet somit eine gute Übersicht.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Does a perfect vagina really exist? More and more women than before want to have their labia reduced by surgery and thus get a younger-looking vagina. What does a perfect vulva actually look like, what do you think is beautiful? Jamie McCartney took casts of real vulvas in his “Great Wall of Vagina” and thus offers a good overview.

Scheide, Möse, Muschi, Pussy – das sind nur vier von unzähligen Begriffen für das weibliche Geschlechtsteil. Doch selbst Jahrzehnte nach der sexuellen Revolution fällt es vielen Frauen schwer, ungeniert über ihren Hot-Spot zu sprechen. Der britische Künstler Jamie McCartney (40) scheint ein Mittel gegen diese Ängste zu haben.

ENGLISH TRANSLATION: Vagina, cunt, pussy, pussy – these are just four of countless terms for the female genitalia. But even decades after the sexual revolution, many women still find it difficult to openly talk about their hot spot. British artist Jamie McCartney (40) seems to have a remedy for these fears. He convinced 350 women to open up to him and get a plaster cast of their privates! The artistic result: The Great Wall of Vagina.

Jamie McCartney was asked to appear as a guest on the show in the Headliners slot. All a bit silly really but if it gets The Great Wall of Vagina to a new audience then what’s the harm? Russell Howard’s Good News Series 7 Episode 12

As part of his latest exhibition at Hay Hill Gallery, artist Jamie McCartney presents a large-scale wall sculpture entitled, The Great Wall of Vagina – which consists of an entire wall taken over by sculptural casts of female genitalia. The work may seem shocking but there is good reason: to attempt to counter the recent rise in cosmetic labial surgery.

A short interview with Jamie McCartney by some media studies students about The Great Wall of Vagina sculpture and exhibition.

Akshata Rao reports on The Great Wall of Vagina which premiered at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2011. It features plaster casts of vulvas from 400 women. One of the oldest volunteers, a 76 years old, shares her experience. See the other videos on our channel and playlist for more info

Capturing the very first public exhibition of the Great Wall of Vagina sculpture in the artist’s studio, May 2011. A taste of the exhibition and a short interview with Jamie at the end, talking about how it felt to finally put on the show.

Sculptor Jamie McCartney talks to the Fringe in his studio all about his vagina sculpture.