Honeysuckle Hype is a self-proclaimed “queer feminist sexually-explicit performance artist,” which — in our opinion — is just another way of saying that she is “totally awesome.” A classic burlesque performer slash ardent feminist, Ms. Hype has created a highly unusual, audience-participatory cooking show she calls “Eat Your Heart Out.” The project, which she plans to take on the road this summer using Kickstarter, discusses the relationship between sexuality, politics, and power in contemporary American culture by examining our traditional preparation and consumption of meat. Brings all new meaning to the phrase “Bringing home the bacon,” doesn’t it?

Check out our delicious Q&A with Honeysuckle, below. Support her project here.

Where did this idea sprout from?  Meat is an interesting entry-point into conversations of sexuality and power.  I’m curious to know how the idea evolved!
 
It all started with this image of a woman’s body drawn out like a cut of meat.  That inspired a pin-up photo shoot, which became a limited edition valentine artwork (which you can get when you support the project!), and the conversations and connections that happened around that valentine were the launch point for this show.

 I think it’s possible to have conversations about sexuality and power that don’t smell like blood, don’t make us think about who lives and who dies, and don’t involve very much burying of one’s hands in something raw and wiggling one’s fingers around.  But using meat as the content, metaphor, and imagery makes the conversation go “there” from the beginning.  And that, for me, is really really interesting.  And fun as hell.

 Why do you think it’s important for people to know/talk about the themes your burlesque work touches on?
 
I believe that pulling back the curtains around us and seeing what’s there is a terrifying feat, but that there can be power in it.  That touching what is uncomfortable and real and confronting power and violence and guilt and anger can be a way to move towards a world you want to be living in.  My burlesque and performance work touches on a set of themes and taboos that are deeply meaningful to me: sex, sexuality, women’s bodies, food, (self)-objectification, power…  I don’t think that they are necessarily the most important for people to know or talk about, but I hope that they can be a vessel to connect with audiences and to generate more conversations and boundary-pushing.

What do you hope people will take away from one of your performances?

That shit is complicated.  We live in a beautiful and bizarre matrix of tiny threads connected between seemingly disconnected people, objects, ideas, wallets, and it is all really, really complex.  And that story-telling, and sometimes telling stories quite literally from your own body, can be a powerful grounding tool for creating and proliferating the kinds of inspiration we need to keep going.

That’s easy: beef jerky.  Period.  Love the salty sweet spicy everything (MSG, nitrates!), love the quick hit of protein, love the way it makes my jaw sore.  Love that I can carry it in my purse.  LOVE IT!

How have responses to your shows been so far?
 
I think some of the best responses I’ve gotten to past work and segments of this show in progress have been “disarmingly provocative,” “I felt like I’d never seen breasts before!,” and “you had the chance to humiliate [the audience participants], but you didn’t—you supported them and kept them right there with you.”
 
People are excited about this new show!  Folks I talk to about the project almost always end up telling me some of their meat stories, and they are often bizarrely intimate.  Meat taps into our weird and wonderful and fucked up relationships with food and bodies and family and class and cultural norms and sexuality in some unique ways, and I’m excited to get to pull some of that out on stage.

How has your use of Kickstarter been so far? How did you feel immediately prior to hitting “Launch”?

I love Kickstarter!  I’m a pretty critical end-user of technology and I have been so impressed with the site as a project-creator and as a supporter.  In the first few days since launching, it has been amazing to get the little “new backer alert” emails on my phone-it’s like having a built-in support team when I’m feeling overwhelmed or doubtful.  It makes solo art-making a little less lonely.
 
Just before hitting launch I was sitting outside on a sunny Seattle evening in Paula the Swedish Housewife’s garden sipping Veuve Clicquot with burlesque superstar Dirty Martini.  The stars could not have been better aligned, but I got cold feet.  Earlier that day my mom had told me about the moment my grandfather walked up the steps of Columbia University’s admin building in the 1940s planning to enroll in classes on the GI bill, got scared, turned around and walked back down the steps.  Then I snapped back and Paula and Dirty were screaming at me: “Do it! Do it! Hit launch!”  So I did.

Closing thoughts?

I get messages every day that there is this force of evil, this liberal hot bed of homosexuality that is perverted and angry and trying to destroy everything our country is founded on…

Well you know what?  It’s true.  I’m putting on my make-up, pumping iron, and I’m fucking coming to get you.