Art Exhibit Features Seven Vials of Semen December 6, 2001 11:24 am EST

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - So this is art: For seven days Mexican performance artist Israel Mora ejaculated, in private, into seven glass vials.

After this and presumably after Mora, 33, had rested, the vials of semen were put in a white, refrigerated box, and strung up for exhibit between two trees at the Banff Centre, a 2 cultural institution in the Rocky Mountain resort of Banff.

Titled "Level 7," the exhibit has been on display for the past six days. Thursday is the seventh, and last, day.

Banff Centre spokeswoman Connie MacDonald said the performance is part of Mora's seven-week residency. The cost, about $2,550, is being picked up by the center and the Mexican government. The residency, called "SloMo," has time as its theme and a number of artists are involved.

Mora's cooler bears the label: "Warning: Contains 6 ml of semen extracted through masturbation, distributed among seven glass tubes."

MacDonald said the exhibit had gone mobile one day as Mora "did an walk downtown with his cooler as part of the performance. (The temperature) was about minus 25, and a group of artists from the center went along with him, and he was fairly discreet and he wasn't trying to make a big show."

The vials represent the cycle of life in Mora's family.

"'Level 7' aims to examine the concepts of privacy and intimacy within contemporary society," the center says.

Sherri Zickefoose, editor at Banff's Crag and Canyon newspaper, said the exhibit hasn't caused much of a fuss in town, a ski destination at this time of year. "Everybody knows about it but nobody is saying much."

-- Anonymous, December 08, 2001