Menstrualverse by Sputniko!

Sputniko!’s Menstrualverse challenges the representation of gender in virtual realities by introducing the artists’s famed Menstruation Machine (2010 and found on this Ttimeline) as a wearable avatar accessory in Decentraland. The wearable enabled users to publicly perform menstruation in the Metaverse so as not to transpose its taboo from physical to virtual worlds. Ironically, these attempts to expand gender expression, resulted in the wearable being rejected by Decentraland due to safety and age standards. Menstrualverse raises critical questions about identity, autonomy and the future of bodily performance in digital spaces, harkening back to the questions and ideas of artists such as Copper Giloth and Rebecca Allen. The work questions whether the Metaverse will reflect or erase biological realities—and their prejudiced taboos.