In “Blood Script,” Washington, D.C. artist Mary Coble had 75 hateful epithets “tattooed” onto her body. No ink was involved, so the words looked as if they were written in blood. The ornate lettering Coble chose was intended to create “a dichotomy between the beautiful visual form of the words and the ugly meanings they convey semantically.” As the artist bled, pieces of paper were spread over each word, “printing” its mirror image in blood. The selected words were taken from a previous performance in which Coble invited viewers to write hateful words they had heard or used onto her body. The words include anti-female lingo: “bitch,” “slut,” and “c***.” [Mary Coble]
