Sex and romance in the modern world are often perceived as fleeting, easily erased – a few lines in a chat or a half-forgotten list in phone notes. However, performance artist Harriet Richardson decided to challenge this culture of erasure by creating a work that has taken on a physical, and importantly for our industry, permanent form. Her new project, titled “Temporary,” is a 30-centimeter tattoo running along her right ribcage, inscribed with the names of the mothers of all the men with whom she has had intimate relationships. This radical use of the body as an archive of memory sparks heated debate and raises fundamental questions about the consequences of fleeting connections.
The Body as an Archive: Why the Mothers’ Names?
“Temporary” became Richardson’s first truly permanent work, unlike her previous projects such as “100 Dates” or “100 Letters,” which focused on ephemeral moments. By transferring the idea of archiving onto her own flesh, the artist not only records history but also subverts social stereotypes.
The choice of mothers’ names, rather than the partners themselves, is a key conceptual decision. Richardson explains that this is a conscious act aimed at dismantling the binary that men often create between the “permanent” woman in their lives (mother) and the “disposable” one (lover). By placing names typically associated with stability and a lack of sexual attraction on her body, she “disrupts this binary.”
Richardson emphasizes that this work is not an act of revenge but a deep reflection on memory, responsibility, and consequences. The tattoo, delicately placed under her breast, serves as a permanent, indelible diary that compels both the artist and her future partners to consider: is fleeting sex worth the eternal memory it leaves behind?
The Price of Accuracy: A Private Investigator and Two Forgotten Names
The project demanded meticulous accuracy. Most names were recalled or easily found, but two fleeting encounters were so brief that they required extraordinary measures.
“There were two names I couldn’t recall, both from very short flings. To find them, I had to hire a private investigator in London. I had always dreamed of working with a private detective, and I found it very cinematic – someone tracking down these tiny but important details of my past,” Richardson shares.
The detective’s work, she says, was like a soundtrack from “Twin Peaks.” The relief of obtaining accurate data was immense, as authenticity is paramount for the artist. Ultimately, the two most difficult names to find – Maureen and Hazel – became some of her favorites. Interestingly, the sons of both women were found on Tinder during the pandemic, further highlighting the contemporary context of the work.
The list is currently complete, as Richardson is on day 74 of a planned year of celibacy. However, “Temporary” is an ongoing project. Every future intimate connection will entail a morning visit to the nearest tattoo studio and the addition of a new name to this bodily archive.
Tattoo as Resistance to Erasure and a Therapeutic Act
For Richardson, tattooing is a way to combat the pattern of “erasure” she often observed in relationships with avoidant partners. Breakups with such individuals were always accompanied by attempts to completely cut her out of their lives, delete and forget.
The artist comments: “This work resists the pattern of erasure. It insists on remembering and places fleeting connections alongside supposedly ‘important’ ones without distinction. This doesn’t mean that some random man with a mustache has the same depth as my ex-partner with whom we were together for four years. It means that the act itself was no less important for my evolution. Having someone inside you is a huge event (conceptually!). I wish everyone would stop being so ‘cool’ about it.”