Cut Piece 1964

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Cut Piece 1964 is a pioneer of performance art and participatory work first performed by Japanese American multimedia avant-garde artist, musician and peace activist Yoko Ono on July 20, 1964, at the Yamaichi Concert Hall in Kyoto, Japan.^[1] It is one of the earliest and most significant works of the feminist art movement and Fluxus.

Ono has performed the work a total of six times. Based on one of her event scores, a set of instructions for a performance, Ono sat down on the stage, laid a pair of scissors in front of her and invited the audience to cut pieces of her clothing off. Cut Piece is understood to address materialism, gender, class, memory and cultural identity and has become regarded as an iconic proto-feminist work of performance art, but also has an underlying anti-war message and inspiration found in Zen and Shinto Buddhism. In addition to Ono's six performances, Cut Piece has been staged by numerous other artists and has inspired feminist and anti-war artists and collectives since it was first performed in 1964.