DEFERRAL STATEMENT
Mary Coble’s performance, Deferral,
addresses the FDA’s policy of refusing
blood donations from men who have had
sex with men since 1977.
Over four days in the Corcoran's atrium,
Coble and a number of gay men encode
the curtains of an anatomical theater with
text and images from blood donor
campaigns, regulations and debates.
The artist writes using her own blood,
drawn onsite, while her collaborators work
with thread in place of their ‘illegal’ blood.
Over the course of the performance, the
performers actions create an increasingly
tangled web, enveloping and impeding
their shared space while reclaiming the
image of the male hero.