SUSAN MOGUL, TAKE OFF, 1974

“This ten-minute video performance is about learning to masturbate with a vibrator. «Two batteries, one orgasm.» – In one sense Take Off is like a public service announcement or a TV commercial about vibrators and masturbation. My persona is a salesperson demonstrating a product. It’s also a satire of a videotape made by an American male artist Vito Acconci, a well–known artist. If a male can masturbate on video so can a woman. But instead of making a serious intellectual video artwork like Acconci, I created a cheerful, practical HOW TO DO IT video. Not only has my work confronted sexual identity. It has also confronted art world conventions. It is rather subtle in Take Off.” - Susan Mogul