Film

This is the first in a series of performance art for my senior year AP Art sustained investigation. The subject of my sustained investigation is exploring femininity, how our society interacts with feminism, and gender through a transgender perspective. I wanted to explore this concept because although I am not a girl, I have always been placed into the box of femininity. I have spent years trying to escape that box, but I think it's time I stop running away from it and start trying to understand it. Please Enjoy.

Piece Statement:Hair Piece is dedicated to exploring how I interact with gender and how society interacts with my gender. In the performance, I allow the audience of my peers to shave my head, detaching myself from the traditionally feminine style of hair I have at the beginning of the piece. By allowing my peers to participate in the piece, I invite the viewer to see how other people interact with my gender.

This piece, and my entire sustained investigation, is inspired mainly by the second wave of feminism in the United States, and the art it spawned. Specific pieces that acted as inspirations include Cut Piece by Yoko Ono and TAP and TOUCH by Valie Export. Specific artists that inspired me are Ana Mendieta and Carolee Schneemann. Sources I used when studying feminist art and the second wave of feminism are cited below. Thank you to all these artists and the creators of my sources.

Work Cited

Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid's Tale (Graphic Novel): A Novel. Edited by Renee Nault, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2019.

Blocker, Jane, and Ana Mendieta. Where is Ana Mendieta? Identity, Performativity, and Exile. Duke University Press, 1999.

Brackett, Donald. “The Self-Curated Film/Performance Art of Yoko Ono.” XIBIT, https://www.xibtmagazine.com/2022/01/ekphrasis-the-self-curated-film-performance-art-of-yoko-ono/.

Chicago, Judy, and Miriam Schapiro. “10 Female Performance Artists You Should Know, from Ana Mendieta to Carolee Schneemann.” Artsy, 20 December 2017, https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-10-female-performance-artists-ana-mendieta-carolee-schneemann. Accessed 5 December 2024.

Elkin, Lauren. Art Monsters Lib/E: Unruly Bodies in Feminist Art. Tantor Media, Incorporated, 2023.

Karg, Alexandra. “Performance Art: 8 Famous and Influential Women.” TheCollector, 22 August 2020, https://www.thecollector.com/women-artists-in-performance-art/. Accessed 5 December 2024.

Leeson, Lynn H., director. !Women Art Revolution. Zeitgeist Films, 2011. Youtube, https://youtu.be/i3vQ6XmRCUM?si=9GnmE0VVgfRCvjng.

Leperlier, François. Claude Cahun. Thames & Hudson Limited, 2023.

Lukkas, Lynn, et al. Covered in Time and History: The Films of Ana Mendieta. Edited by Howard Oransky, University of California Press, 2015.

MoMA, and Francesca Wilmott. “Yoko Ono.” MoMA, 2018, https://www.moma.org/artists/4410.