cutpiece

Cut Piece is a 1964 performance artwork by Japanese artist Yoko Ono. It is widely regarded as a foundational work in performance and conceptual art, notable for inviting active audience participation and for its stark examination of vulnerability, power, and spectatorship.

In the original performance, Ono sat on a lower stage or chair, dressed in a simple garment. Viewers were invited to approach and cut away pieces of her clothing with scissors. Ono remained silent and relatively still, offering little resistance as the audience members carried out the action. The extent and duration of the cuts varied by performance, and the piece concluded according to the flow of the event rather than a predetermined endpoint.

Cut Piece situates Ono within the broader Fluxus and avant-garde milieu of the 1960s, emphasizing art as an action and the active involvement of the audience. The work has been interpreted through multiple lenses, including feminist theory, analyses of gender and the male gaze, and discussions of consent and control in performance art. Its confrontational format and reliance on real-time participation made it a touchstone for subsequent debates about the relationship between artist, material, and viewer.

Over the years, Cut Piece has been restaged by Ono and reinterpreted by other artists in various venues, including galleries and museums worldwide. These revivals have continued to spark discussion about autonomy, vulnerability, and the ethics of audience interaction in art. The piece remains a frequently cited example of how performance can foreground social and political concerns within an artwork.