Response to Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" (1965)

Watching Yoko Ono's "Cut Piece" was a very shocking and emotional piece for me to watch. The evocative sense of emotion through her attempts to keep a stoic expression as those around slowly take away her exterior boundaries with more and more greed was very powerful. The piece delicately show's the artist's ability of helplessness to and yet power over the situation she is in. Those who come up to her are able to cut her clothes in however way they desire and have no limit to however much they desire. Yet, she is the one in power letting them do so, the one in power controlling her emotions, and most of all, persuading those who present themselves in the video to reveal their inner nature as they cut her away. The vulnerability and yet stone-like nature of her face was especially moving, as she tries to be like a rock, but her emotions and discomfort and pain through the situation inevitably show as the last man cuts away piece after piece of her clothing.

Five Sentences:

• "The body is the primary mode of perceiving scale."

For this sentence, I chose this picture taken at the Santa Monica pier in summer of 2013. My body in the forefront, juxtaposed with the fading skyline in the background, shows the large sense of depth in the environment. The tourists in the background give a sense of relatable and proportional scale to the rocky shoreline beside them, as well.

• "The capacity of objects to serve as traces of authentic experience."

When I was eight years old, my father bought a B'rer rabbit plush (pictured above) to commemorate my first time braving Splash Mountain with him. Twelve years later, I brought the plush back to the park, and my friend took the picture above while I wasn't there.The object serves as a "trace of an authentic experience" because it represents not only a product that is no longer sold at the attraction, but authentic evidence of my presence at the location in the past. 

• "The souvenir reduces the public, the monumental, and the three-dimensional into the miniature that which can be enveloped by the body."

The above picture was taken with two of my closest friends in the winter of 2014. We were standing in line to see the meet-and-greet characters from one of our favorite films at the time. The plushes we were displaying when this picture was taken represent such an event and the cornerstone of our day.

• "Nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss."

The above are two pictures of a former attraction at EPCOT- the Norwegian boat ride, Maelstrom. The ride was a major part of my childhood memory; I had been afraid of riding it as a small girl, but conquered my fear of it with my friends years later. But as the sentence above states, nostalgia cannot be sustained without loss. Many of my fond feelings for the ride stem from the fact that it is of a memory past; it was closed in 2014 to make way for a Frozen attraction. The upper picture was taken before the ride was permanently closed, while the bottom picture was taken a few months after its closure, which is evident though the fading paint on its doors, broken hinges, and absence of signage.

• "To have a souvenir of the exotic is to posses both a specimen and a trophy."

The picture above displays me showcasing a special pass I was given at Disney's Lights, Motors, Action! show. This pass serves as both a specimen- an artifact from the attraction itself, and a trophy- proudly showcasing the special permission I was given at the event to sit in the director's seat.

Soap Carving Changes (PROGRESS)

Carving's Condition Before Changes:

• Change 1: Dropped from the second floor of Wiley Art Building (Subtractive)

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After:

• Change 2: Boiled in a teapot filled with water (Subtractive)
• NOTE: In the time between changes one and two, the hippo's jaw broke off of the carving during transportation and could not be recovered. The damaging of the jaw was due to the drop from change one.

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• Change 3: Sprinkled chamomile leaves over the carving (Additive) 
• NOTE: This was done immediately after change two, while the surface of the soap was still liquidized, so that the leaves would stick to the soap independently.

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• Change 4: Drizzled in red paint (Additive)
• NOTE: In order to get the paint to mix into the soap, the carving was wrapped in a paper towel (to keep the red paint from damaging the floor), and kicked down four flights of stairs.

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After:

• Change 5: Steeped in boiling water with two bags of black tea leaves (Additive)
• Note: I considered this process additive due to the additional stain of the black tea leaves on the surface of the soap.

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• Change 6: Wrapped in a paper bag and slammed on a carpet floor 20 times (Subtractive)

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• Change 7: Beaten with a comb (Subtractive)

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• Change 8: Driven over 5 times with a car (Subtractive)
• Note: To keep from ruining the car wheel, the soap was wrapped in a paper towel. It had also recently rained before this process was done. The pavement was still wet, which helped the soap stay together despite the pressure of the car wheel.

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• Change 9 (FINAL): Frozen overnight in a cup of water, thawed, and removed (Additive & Subtractive)
• NOTE: I considered the first portion of this process additive due to addition of mass from the ice and its impact on the overall structure of the carving. The second portion of this process was additive due to the thawing of the ice, which eroded the surface of the soap before it was removed.

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