"Cut Piece" Yoko OnoAfter watching Yoko Ono's 1964 "Cut Piece" video, I felt like I had been somehow present in the time period of which it was shot. As a woman in the 60's, where equal rights were sought after, domestic violence against women was being tenaciously addressed, and counterculture was just getting started, it must have been a big step for Yoko Ono to display such courageous feminism. Not only that, but the fact that she did it in such a way that forced her audience to partake was in a way kind of crazy! Without the audience's participation, there would have been no piece She didn't know what was going to happen. The unknown aspect of whether or not something would go wrong, how the audience would react, or even how the artist actually felt during the presentation made it so powerful to watch.
The time period definitely shows; from the attire of the audience to how the man at about 7 minutes in takes control of the show, cutting almost all of the front of Yoko Ono's undershirt off. He was a classic 1960's man taking what he wanted from this young woman. Her face looked perturbed by his actions.
Not only does this video portray the time period, but it also contrarily conveys the timelessness of society and its standards. When the audience first came up to cut, the pieces were fairly small as if they were hesitant to mess up the demonstration. After a while, people started cutting larger and larger pieces. Finally ending with the man cutting her undershirt almost completely off. I am convinced that he would not have done so if he were the first person to go up on stage. It was after he saw other people cut her shirt that he felt comfortable enough to go up and make such a daring move. People in general are hesitant, I think. It's when they see others doing the action that they are okay with doing it too. This video instills that message.
No comments:
Post a Comment