Proliferation IV (Wet Turtleneck Fountain)

Proliferation IV (Wet Turtleneck Fountain) is a functional fountain cycling gallons of water through a modified dress form clothed with a white turtleneck. As the fountain runs, the cast silicone “nipples” are revealed to be the artist’s head.

By Sarah Rose Sharp for the exhibition Environment & Microclimates:

“The biggest problem with objectification is the reduction of the objectified creature to its surface qualities, denying her agency and an inner life. The problem with a “wet t-shirt contest” is not the honest desire to look at boobs through a t-shirt, but the facetious nomenclature that suggests the possessor of the boobs is not in on the joke. Sally Clegg is in on the joke. Sally Clegg is ready to lean so far into an attempt at objectification that she bursts through the other side. Her eyes are up here, but if you want to look at her nipples, her eyes are there too. Wetness is sensual, but damp is uncomfortable. The discomfort you feel is the realization that the void you are looking into is not an object at all, and she is looking right back at you.”