PieceWork (2017-2018) is a durational performance in which I cut away my clothing in order to construct a barrier between myself and the audience. PieceWork explores ideas of deconstruction of identity, constructions of self, and explores an oxymoronic tension—as I create distance between myself and others, the more exposed I become. This work is both influenced by and pays homage to Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece (1965). Like Ono, I am exploring the use of sound, with the only sound the snip of the scissors cutting into the fabric; however, instead of discussing ideas of the subject becoming an object, sexual violence, and male dominance, PieceWork explores deconstruction of identity, constructions of self, layered and stripped bare.
The documentation below is from multiple performances of PieceWork.
Documentation by Katie Jenkins-Moses and John Moses.