THE FLATULENCE POST

If you don't have a sense of humor, stop now!! In the '40s a group of zany guys at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced a program called the Crepitation Competition, a 15-minute feature in which a farting competition was presented as a sports event, complete with distinguished announcing, crowd and audience ambience, and sound effects appropriate for the event. This was before the era of LP, and the program took both sides of two 78 rpm disks. The recording became an under-the-counter classic. An admiral heard it and thought it would boost morale of U.S. troops, so hundreds of copies were made for our armed forces during the World War. A feature of the Competition was the "farting post," about 5 ft. high used by contestants who would firmly grasp the post, bend over, and perform. In line with AVAM's current Exhibition (What Makes Us Smile?), I suggested there be a similar post, to be called The Flatulence Post—and the project gained a life of its own. Flatulence has fascinated and amused us for centuries. Shakespeare, Chaucer, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain and many others have written glowingly and humorously about it. Many books have been written on the subject (including many for children), as well as cook books, and on the internet you will find numerous vignettes. Fart jokes are common on both radio and television. AVAM's new exhibit displays the scope of the subject. You will see books, photographs and stories, as well as something new: "artistic visualizations of flatulence" created from mirrors (and other objects), each of which has its own appropriate name. Here are some samples of some of the art piece images in the exhibit. To see them larger, just click on the one you want. And, of course, the main feature of the Exhibit is The Flatulence Post in all of its glory. The FP miraculously has captured many sounds of past competitions and would like to share them with you. When visiting AVAM, check out the Exhibit which is on the lower level of the main building, between the two main bathrooms (how appropriate!?!). To hear the treasures of the FP, gently grasp the handle and press the button on the rear (how appropriate!).. Enjoy!!

And I would like in particular to thank some friends whose enthusiastic support and encouragement has made this Exhibit possible, particularly Rick Ames, Sy Kotler, Susan Colligan, Juli Alderman, and Zinka Milanov.