I watched the "Cut Piece" video with mixed feelings. First it made me uncomfortable, to watch people in the audience - especially when you could see them as individuals, with their different attitudes, words, approaches - come up and cut a piece off. Some seemed respectful as they participated in the piece, but some looked more like they were taking advantage of an opportunity to demean another person.
At the end, I wasn't sure how to feel about it, so I did a little research to see what Ono's purpose was. One interview had her saying that she originally did it out of anger, but that she did a re-performance in 2003 as an expression of her hope for world peace.
This really confused me. But after some thought, I decided it has a pretty deep feminist message: being a woman often feels like a world of forcible giving. Each demand of life feels like more cutting: your children need things from you, your job and your community need things from you, your spouse needs things from you, and society so often to just comply with it all and not make waves. In this sense, "Cut Piece" just feels tragic.
Or in a more positive, proactive sense, taking the abuses of the world and not giving any in return is definitely a way to foster peace.
I understand how you felt when you watched the performance. I felt that too; something you can't describe with a clear word. To see so many different attitudes from the audience is unique experience... because her performance would have different meanings and contents depending on the attitudes. I read some articles about it, and she described herself not feminist necessarily... but I think that's a beauty of her performance. I research her under my feminist topic, so yeah I see her work as one of the strongest feminist art! And I love how you explained your interpretation of it!
I watched the "Cut Piece" video with mixed feelings. First it made me uncomfortable, to watch people in the audience - especially when you could see them as individuals, with their different attitudes, words, approaches - come up and cut a piece off. Some seemed respectful as they participated in the piece, but some looked more like they were taking advantage of an opportunity to demean another person.
ReplyDeleteAt the end, I wasn't sure how to feel about it, so I did a little research to see what Ono's purpose was. One interview had her saying that she originally did it out of anger, but that she did a re-performance in 2003 as an expression of her hope for world peace.
This really confused me. But after some thought, I decided it has a pretty deep feminist message: being a woman often feels like a world of forcible giving. Each demand of life feels like more cutting: your children need things from you, your job and your community need things from you, your spouse needs things from you, and society so often to just comply with it all and not make waves. In this sense, "Cut Piece" just feels tragic.
Or in a more positive, proactive sense, taking the abuses of the world and not giving any in return is definitely a way to foster peace.
Brittany Heiner (Group 5)
I understand how you felt when you watched the performance. I felt that too; something you can't describe with a clear word. To see so many different attitudes from the audience is unique experience... because her performance would have different meanings and contents depending on the attitudes. I read some articles about it, and she described herself not feminist necessarily... but I think that's a beauty of her performance. I research her under my feminist topic, so yeah I see her work as one of the strongest feminist art! And I love how you explained your interpretation of it!
ReplyDelete