Artists' works raise safe sex awareness

Condoms. They come lubricated, ultra-thin, flavored and ribbed for her pleasure, and Friday they filled the Indiana Memorial Union Solarium by the thousands, with the simple intention of promoting safe sex.\nDec. 1 marked World AIDS Day, and graduate student Christopher Fisher, research coordinator for the Sexual Health Research Working Group, celebrated by hosting IU's first Latexhibition. Past World AIDS Days have led people across the globe to experiment with latex. This year, Fisher, who is studying health behavior, commissioned his human sexuality class to make art projects using the material commonly associated with safe sex. Members of the community were also invited to create projects, resulting in about 200 submissions.\nFisher said his hope was to foster discussion about sexuality and protection. \n"One of the things we find in class is people afraid of talking about condoms," Fisher said. "This is an opportunity to talk about and handle condoms outside of a sexual situation, to desensitize the idea of talking about them."\nErin Triplett, a public health graduate student, agreed. \n"It gives people a chance to experiment with condoms and see how far they can stretch," she said as her friends laughed. \n"It's skill training," Amanda Daugherty, also a public health graduate student, said in response.\nSophomore Sarah Wyn, a student in Fisher's class, shared what she had learned in the project. \n"I learned how lube condoms work," she said. "And they're messy. I actually didn't know you could get condoms without lube."\nKathryn Brown, a health educator at the IU Health Center, was one of three judges at the event, a project she said she was happy to support. \n"Anything that gets the word out about condoms and using them in a fun way is good -- like this," she said, pointing to fellow judge Miss Gay Bloomington.\nJazmyn Taylor, the 2006 pageant winner, sported white go-go boots and a blue wig that matched her blue sparkly dress. Stapled to the dress was a multi-colored display of condoms. \nTaylor said she was also eager to judge. Diagnosed with HIV at the age of 21, she said she is happy to promote anything that is going to address the disease and its prevention. \nKelly E. McBride, director of training at Planned Parenthood in Bloomington, has dedicated her professional life to this same goal. Although McBride didn't judge, she was taking in the sights Friday, observing the many heat-damaged and expired condoms Planned Parenthood donated for use in the projects.\nThe entrants found countless ways to display their latex of choice. Christmas trees and snowmen were popular, so much so that a Best Seasonal category was added to the judges' lists at the last minute. Others focused on the sexual angle, attempting to play up the humor of the situation. \nThe judges circled the Solarium of the IMU, commenting on their favorite pieces. Aside from Best Seasonal, a winner was awarded for Best Use of Latex, Most Educational and Best Overall. \nTaylor said her favorite piece was one that featured a wedding cake decorated with condoms and a plastic cake topper of a couple in a compromising position.\nThe winner of the Most Educational category used just one condom, which was inside a converted shoe box (think sixth-grade project). The scene was a table, topped with a basket of condiments and food. The single condom was wrapped around a plastic hot dog, below a sign reading, "Don't forget to wrap your wiener."\nBut the coveted prize was Best Overall, a title that earned the submitting group a year's supply of condoms, determined as 500 by Condomania, an online condom retailer. The recipients were Aimee Heitz and Aubrey Roberts the creators of "The Giving Tree," a Christmas tree that used green-colored latex gloves to represent branches and multi-colored blown-up condoms and packets of birth control as ornaments. \nThese two projects, along with those of the other winners, will be featured around campus, as Fisher hopes to carry the message of Latexhibition forward. Catherine Johnson-Roehr, curator at the Kinsey Institute, said she had offered to display some of the winners there, where novelty condoms are already featured. \nHowever, Fisher chose the IU Health Center instead, which, offers four free condoms per visit to students.