Although the Jean-Paul Sartre inspired work is at first meant to be an existentialist statement on the artist's identity, to me, it is at once an altruistic act. I see the performance and happening as a statement on how to live and love, bearing ourselves, putting ourselves out there, open to judgment, ridicule, and being taken advantage of.
Thanks to archival footage, we can relive to a certain extent one of these performances and get a good feel for what it was like for Yoko. One can hear the giggles from the audience. One can see the varying sizes of clothing audience members chose to cut off as well as Yoko's face which fascinatingly shifts from triumph to uncertainty to (perhaps) regret. The most interesting and telling portion of the video of the recorded performance below comes around the 7 minute mark when a man cuts a substantial amount of her undergarment (typical male!), leaving her literally and figuratively exposed and vulnerable.
YOKO ONO CUT PIECE
I've been thinking a lot about Cut Piece recently in relation to Abramovic's Rhythm O, which she performed in 1974. Here's what wikipedia says about Rhythm O:
ReplyDeleteTo test the limits of the relationship between performer and audience, Abramović developed one of her most challenging (and best-known) performances. She assigned a passive role to herself, with the public being the force which would act on her.
Abramović had placed upon a table 72 objects that people were allowed to use (a sign informed them) in any way that they chose. Some of these were objects that could give pleasure, while others could be wielded to inflict pain, or to harm her. Among them were scissors, a knife, a whip, and, most notoriously, a gun and a single bullet. For six hours the artist allowed the audience members to manipulate her body and actions.
Initially, members of the audience reacted with caution and modesty, but as time passed (and the artist remained impassive) several people began to act quite aggressively. As Abramović described it later:
“The experience I learned was that…if you leave decision to the public, you can be killed.” ... “I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the public. Everyone ran away, escaping an actual confrontation.”
I love Yoko Ono's work, but I thought this was a very interesting piece by Marina to compare and contrast with it, especially with the 10 year time difference. Both are quite moving, both have different messages and ramifications, both incredibly engaging...
Anyhow, thought you might be interested! I watched cut piece in class last semester and a person from my class had actually re-performed it once. It all just made for a really wonderful discussion.