Los Angeles-born and raised artist and aeronautics engineer Autumn Breon has created Care Machine, a free vending machine filled with objects that Black women need for self-care. The vending machine carries consumables that people commonly associate with self-care, such as candy, hair products, and inspirational books. It also carries items related to women’s sexual and reproductive health, including everything from tampons to condoms, lubricants and even abortion pills, affirming them as necessary parts of self-care, too.
In an interview with Neue House, LA, Breon shared that the machine imagines a future where Black women’s self-care is prioritized and not considered a luxury. By doing so, considering the amount of care and impact that Black women provide for other people, Breon believes that self-care for Black women also means caring for the folks around them, their communities, and society as a whole. This reflects the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Gender Equality and Good Health And Well-Being.
Influenced by her background as an aeronautical engineer, Breon’s creative process mimics that of scientific research. It begins with a hypothesis, to which she will then collect data that will either approve or disprove her initial hypothesis.
Breon’s art-making process is anchored in an imaginary place she calls Planet Esoterica. For Breon, it’s a planet a few hundred light years away from Inglewood, California, where humankind’s ancestors go after death. When collecting data for her pieces, she calls her data collection platform the esoterica hotline, giving people the idea that the collected data will be sent to their ancestors on Planet Esoterica, who will then, through wormholes, send down Breon’s pieces—inventions to help people navigate life on Earth.
For Care Machine, Breon collected data from Black women, asking questions such as “If you had anything that you wanted that provides care and or reminds you of care, and it was available whenever you needed it? What would it be? What would you want?”
Hence, the free vending machine that is Care Machine was born, as Breon also found that economical means are one of the key things that inhibit Black women from accessing self care. Since then, the vending machine has travelled across the USA, making appearances in Washington DC, Miami, Venice Beach and many more.
However, nearly two dozen US States have banned abortions, so to provide abortion pills for the Care Machine, Breon works with Plan C. This American non-profit organization provides up-to-date information on how people in any US state can access at-home abortion pills. This repository includes access to online clinics, websites or communities that deliver abortion pills discreetly by mail.
Breon has also been promoting Plan C’s initiative on her social media, connecting her artistic practice with activism firmly rooted in Black History. Time and time again, art and activism have come together in Breon’s pieces. She trusts that one cannot exist without the other, as she firmly understands that art is her language of choice to invite people from all walks of life to create a better world.
“It’s a language that’s accessible. […] I was able to use performance [art] to inform people, but also to help mobilize,” said Breon.
Find out more about Care Machine and Autumn Breon’s other pieces by checking her website www.autumnbreon.com or Instagram @autumnbreon.