Ilana Breitman
CUT PIECE FOR PANTS SUIT
Co-Directed by JoAnne Akalaitis and Ashley Tata
Pantsuits by Ilana Breitman
December 19, 2016
Madison Square Park
Photos: Monica Felix
Pantsuits by Ilana Breitman
December 19, 2016
Madison Square Park
Photos: Monica Felix
“The pantsuit has been ridiculed, abused,” she said. “There is no armor for a woman any longer. If professional women felt that somehow a pantsuit was going to cover us in a way that’s protective and powerful, that symbology is out the door.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/20/fashion/pantsuit-yoko-ono-performance-art.html?mcubz=1
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"On days like this, it can be easy to lose sight of the work that is being done. Amidst all the set backs, there are people protesting and taking a stand. One such example came yesterday in Madison Square Park, when a small group of 10 women performers stood clustered in the cold wearing pant suits and holding scissors… the group invited park visitors and audience members to cut pieces from their suits, drawing from Yoko Ono’s 1965 performance “Cut Piece.” The pieces of fabric, according to Tata, would serve “as a gift or a reminder, a remembrance of recent events and potentially more optimistic actions.”"
http://artfcity.com/2016/12/20/the-pant-suits-come-off-yesterdays-action-at-madison-square/
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"More so than Ono’s original performance, Cut Piece for Pants Suit required the women involved to put themselves at risk. They stood unprotected in a busy public place with no way of knowing or controlling who might come by and decide to cut more than clothing with those scissors. The piece invites violence against the female body as way of making spectator/participants aware of the implications of their gazes and aggressive impulses. Fortunately, none of the women became the victim of any unhinged passersby; most who approached to snip off a bit of pantsuit were gracious, a little shy, and respectful."
https://thetheatretimes.com/cut-piece-pants-suit-madison-square-park/
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"As Akalaitis described "Cut Piece for Pants Suit:" "This barely controlled violence towards the female body is again front and center. Hillary's pants suit has become a powerful symbol in America of a kind of 'Power Dress' armor that in the recent election has been ridiculed, abused and violated.""
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/CUT-PIECE-FOR-PANTS-SUIT-Performance-Piece-Will-Respond-to-2016-Election-at-Madison-Square-Park-20161214
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© Ilana Breitman 2019