Summary of Essay
This essay delves into the background of Yoko Ono and her involvement in the Fluxus movement of the 1960s. It explores her artistic methodology during this period, and evaluates her performance Cut Piece as a proto-feminist work. Ono’s intersectional identity as a Japanese-American woman is intricately connected to this analysis, considering the historical fetishization of Asian women. While neither Ono nor her critics initially recognized Cut Piece as a feminist work, it has become culturally understood as such. By offering a concise exploration of its situational context and interpretive evolution, and exploring audience receptions of the work, this essay contends that Cut Piece actively fosters a feminist interpretation with regard to intersectionality and evaluates it as such.
