“We used to talk about how ‘we’ll never escape the Vulva!'” notes artist Shawna Dempsey when I mention the groundbreaking performance piece and short film We’re Talking Vulva that she created with Lorri Millan some 22 years ago.

“We still meet women in their thirties who say they were lesbians in their teens and how much the film meant to them.”

Millan says she remains proud of the piece but feels its timelessness is a little disturbing: “It’s disheartening because it still needs to be seen. Women are still so fucked up about their relationships to their bodies.”

For those unfamiliar with We’re Talking Vulva, the five minute music video has Millan dressed up in a piece of foam, made to look like a vulva, joking about genitalia.

“There’s no nudity, sex or violence, yet we have been called pornographic,” says Dempsey, who adds that since the film’s production in 1990, it still manages to trigger negative reaction, getting an “R” rating in some provinces.

“We had a discussion just a few years ago with the Planned Parenthood people, who said they couldn’t show it in schools because there could be no reference to lesbianism, masturbation or that sex might be fun. Unbelievable.”

The two artists, who used to be a couple, do their collaborating in Winnipeg – far from their Toronto roots. Millan and Dempsey moved to “the Peg” in the late 1980s.

“It was a very expensive time in Toronto âe¦ it seemed like heaven here. The cost of living is low and it allowed us to do our art-making instead of trying to get a job to live,” says Dempsey.

Millan notes that Winnipeg has good civic arts funding and officials like to foster talent. The two just completed a contract as curators at the Winnipeg Art Gallery for the past three years.

“The fact they would hire lesbian feminist artists to curate, that’s just great,” says Millan.

In the past year, they’ve also been on the road for more than half the year performing their pieces, and it’s this aspect of live action in art that inspires the pair to keep creating.

“If it’s done right, we’re all breathing together,” explains Dempsey. “Ideas are coming out of my body, with words and images going into the audience with their intake of breath.”

Between 1989 and 1996, they created The Dress Series, exploring ideas of female ceremonial costume and icons of femininity.

“The Arborite Housedress was the most beautiful thing,” recalls Dempsey, describing the stiff, bright pink dress made of the retro kitchen counter material.

Millan says the Glass Madonna and The Plastic Bride pieces got the most dramatic reaction, likely due to the nudity.

By the way, it’s usually Dempsey who ends up doing these performances. The Glass Madonna required her to enter nude and then stand behind a glass cut-out of a dress.

“There was an intense reaction,” says Millan, thinking about the first performance. “She speaks to the audience and makes eye contact, giving them advice. They were protective of her.”

Dempsey says nudity seemed to bring out the adolescent qualities in some people.

As the Plastic Bride, she wore see-through vinyl and remembers people being disturbed by it: “They were inappropriately friendly or hostile, like I was some specimen bag.”

Regardless of the strange reactions, the two say they’d never give up on doing performances.

“The great thing about being a feminist performance artist is that I can take that gaze that’s a kind of judgment and I can turn it around. Look at me, but I’m going to tell you what I think,” says Dempsey.

“We use humour as a tool,” adds Millan. “It’s a way of connecting. People can hear things they wouldn’t consume in another form. We don’t come off as if we’re proselytizing.”

One of their most interactive projects is the Lesbian National Parks & Services, created in 1997 and performed in various locales including Banff National Park and in Australia.

The pair don full uniforms as lesbian rangers, sometimes setting up a tent, or simply standing in a place and handing out pamphlets. Dempsey recalls helping seniors cross the street in Edmonton. While in uniform, the pair never break their performance, staying in character throughout the duration of their time at a location, which could be days or up to a week.

Asked about the impetus for this creation, Dempsey bursts forth: “You know, we’re all Canadian and we don’t know what Canadian is until we see a ranger. It brings us together.”

The concept was contrived as the two were planning to create a piece while fulfilling a Banff Centre residency: “We’ve always been intrigued by icons so it’s our way of putting our own content on these familiar symbols and the myths connected with them. I mean, who doesn’t like a park ranger?” says Millan.

Overall, the park ranger performance gets positive reaction from men, women and children.

“People come up to us and ask, wink-wink, ‘where’s the good fishin’?'” says Millan.

The two tailor their park service piece to each location.

“We embed ourselvesâe¦we sometimes bring a slide show, present field reports on the lesbian environment,” explains Millan.

“We also hand out tickets for inappropriate footwear or flirtation without intent. We gave out a huge amount of those in Australia.”

Asked whether this outward display of lesbianism sets off hostility, the “rangers” have a typically witty response:

“Hetero bi-peds will shout ‘homo’ and scurry into the bush. Camouflage is not an effective tool,” responds “Ranger” Millan in a flat, authoritative tone.

Millan and Dempsey say they are inspired by the works of fellow Canadian feminist artists such as Deirdre Logue,Tanya Mars and Allyson Mitchell.

Their latest project is what they’ve termed their own “terrorist organization devoted to thought and thoughtfulness” called the Consideration Liberation Army.

It’s their battle against what they see as a culture of fear that has flourished since September 11, 2001.

Although this is a bit of a departure from their usual themes, Dempsey and Millan emphasize that they’ll continue to pursue their ideas about the role of women in society because “the garden still needs tending.”

“We haven’t been able to escape this cultural distress over female-ness,” Millan observes.

“Our consumer capitalist culture has accelerated over the past 20 years and women, as ever, are commodities. We’ve achieved landmarks but that hasn’t translated to better behaviour.”

You Go, Rangers!

NOTE: For those of you in Toronto for the annual Hot Docs Festival, which runs until April 27, some Canadian films to look for include Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma, Carts of Darkness, Tiger Spirit, The Last Continent, Garbage! The Revolution Starts At Home and General Idea: Art, Aids and The Fin De Siecle.

JUNE CHUA B and W picture

June Chua

June Chua is a Canadian journalist and an award-winning filmmaker who has worked as a writer, reporter and producer with the CBC in radio, television and online. Her documentary, using 2D animation,...