adrianpiper

my interest in adrian piper stems, again, in similarities between my interest in wearing the hijab as a durational and performative gesture in public space that reflects on the intersection of racism, gender issues and otherness and adrian's work. piper is a historical feminist artist. according to wikipedia, "Her work addresses ostracism, otherness, and racist thought." furthermore, her performative actions are not only a critique but in fact push the bystanders to react.

my particular interest in piper's work "wet paint" and "the mythical being" two performance pieces conducted in the public space and on the street in the 1970's - a critical time in the emergence of feminist performance art. both works deal with issues of xenophobia, race and gender specifically.

"wet paint" which included painting her clothes with white paint and wearing a sign that read "WET PAINT" while going to the Macys department store to shop for gloves and sunglasses. other performance pieces from the same series, Catalysis, included stuffing a huge white towel into her mouth and riding the bus, subway and Empire State Building Elevator; and dousing herself in a mixture of vinegar, eggs, milk, and cod liver oil and then spending a week moving around New York's subway and bookstores. according to wikipedia "The Catalysis performances were meant to be a catalyst that challenged what constitutes the order of the social field, 'at the level of dress, sanity and the distinction between public and private acts.'"

in "mythical being" piper performs as a black man with an afro wig as a "third world, working class, overly hostile male."

more on piper's wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Piper

more information about 'mythical being' from the art news website:

"In 1973 Adrian Piper pasted a mustache on her face, put on an Afro wig, and donned round, wire-rimmed shades.
Dressed and acting like a man, she went out into the streets.
Muttering passages she had memorized from her journal, the artist was startling and weird, challenging passersby to classify her through the lens of their own preconceptions about race, gender, and class.
Who was this light-skinned black man, going on and on about how his mother bought too many cookies. Was he crazy? Was he dangerous? Why was he being followed by a film crew?
These street actions formed the basis of The Mythic Being, an influential work of performance art that helped establish Piper’s reputation as provocateur and philosopher.
At a time when Conceptual and Minimal art were mostly male domains that pushed to reduce art to idea and essence, Piper pushed back with confrontational work that brought social and political issues to center stage. And at a time when most performances were barely documented, Piper announced her project in ads in the Village Voice, arranged for it to be filmed by Australian artist Peter Kennedy, and created works on paper dominated by her aggressive alter-ego."

more on the website: http://www.artnews.com/2013/10/25/piper-pulls-out-of-black-performance-art-show/