Comments on: Cindy Rehm http://www.losingyourself.com/devour/ Sat, 08 May 2010 17:42:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: CindyR http://www.losingyourself.com/devour/comment-page-1/#comment-25 CindyR Fri, 10 Apr 2009 23:11:57 +0000 http://www.losingyourself.com/?p=259#comment-25 Dear Susan, Thanks for your insightful comments! I am interested in the relationship between hysteria and feminist performance art. I think the strongest connection between the two is the focus on the body as medium. Hysteria and feminist performance engage in a dialogue created by the excessive body, they both speak through flesh that cannot be contained or controlled. With Pane and Mendieta, the surface of the body often becomes a metaphor for internal as well as universal conditions and experiences. Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion concerning contemporary art and the use of a persona to generate work. I don’t see my work in that vein. I am much more aligned with 70s body art strategies that utilize the body as both literal and symbolic material. To me, the idea of persona is related to theater, and I come to video and performance firmly from a visual art background. I’m influenced by many sources, but the work is always filtered through a visual process. Cindy Dear Susan,

Thanks for your insightful comments! I am interested in the relationship between hysteria and feminist performance art. I think the strongest connection between the two is the focus on the body as medium. Hysteria and feminist performance engage in a dialogue created by the excessive body, they both speak through flesh that cannot be contained or controlled. With Pane and Mendieta, the surface of the body often becomes a metaphor for internal as well as universal conditions and experiences.

Recently, I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion concerning contemporary art and the use of a persona to generate work. I don’t see my work in that vein. I am much more aligned with 70s body art strategies that utilize the body as both literal and symbolic material. To me, the idea of persona is related to theater, and I come to video and performance firmly from a visual art background. I’m influenced by many sources, but the work is always filtered through a visual process.

Cindy

]]> By: Susan Richmond http://www.losingyourself.com/devour/comment-page-1/#comment-22 Susan Richmond Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:49:34 +0000 http://www.losingyourself.com/?p=259#comment-22 Hi Cindy, Thanks for your posting. Your work is terrific. I see a lot of parallels with early feminist art practices. Action Pants is obviously referencing Valerie Export, but I see a resonance with artists such as Gina Pane and Ana Mendieta too. I was wondering if you would say a bit about how you conceive of your relationship to earlier feminist practices, particularly in relation to the concept of hysteria. Cixous, as you indicate on your website, has a lot to say about women's hysteria as a productive form of protest or resistance against gender norms. Hysteria is also about repossessing the past, of excavating repressed histories, so I wonder if you conceive of your relation to past feminist art forms in these terms as well, as a kind of hysterical mimicry? Cheers, Susan R Hi Cindy,
Thanks for your posting. Your work is terrific. I see a lot of parallels with early feminist art practices. Action Pants is obviously referencing Valerie Export, but I see a resonance with artists such as Gina Pane and Ana Mendieta too. I was wondering if you would say a bit about how you conceive of your relationship to earlier feminist practices, particularly in relation to the concept of hysteria. Cixous, as you indicate on your website, has a lot to say about women’s hysteria as a productive form of protest or resistance against gender norms. Hysteria is also about repossessing the past, of excavating repressed histories, so I wonder if you conceive of your relation to past feminist art forms in these terms as well, as a kind of hysterical mimicry?

Cheers,
Susan R

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