Lush's human performance art was about animal cruelty not titillation | Tamsin Omond

This was not a sexy version of the oppression of women. It was designed to challenge public apathy about animal testingAt 11.30 on Tuesday morning, Jacqueline Traide, a 24-year-old performance artist, was hauled on a leash into the window of Lush's Regent Street shop window. What followed was 10 hours – streamed live – of extreme endurance performance. Jacqui represented an animal test subject for the cosmetics industry. She endured a series of animal tests including forced-feeding, eye-irritancy tests and two (saline) injections but suffered no "actual" pain.The purpose of a protest is to plant the seed of a public debate. It is possible (and desirable) to control the content of the performance, protest or stunt. But the debate that it generates, the awareness raised and the action inspired is something beyond the control of the performer or of the company who commissions her.Lush – as part of our Fighting...

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