Cut/Slice
Miranda Gavin
CUT/SLICE is a performance piece by Miranda Gavin, aka The Handbag Projectionist.
It follows the instructions of Cut Piece (1964) by Yoko Ono, with the addition of a plastic mask. The grey sweatshirt and trousers worn by her were those provided by the police when she was wrongfully arrested and held in a cell for 12 hours following an assault by her partner.
The mask is collaged using images of skin sliced from beauty adverts and a photograph of the performer’s black eye, which was used as evidence by the Crown Prosecution Service in the subsequent crown court trial of her former partner. He was found guilty of Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and sentenced accordingly.
Performance Piece
The performance took place on 24 September 2017 at The Beacon in Hastings as part of a charity fundraiser for the Penny Beale Memorial Fund. It was also performed at the private view of HATCHED 18, which was held at The Jam Factory as part of the Oxford International Women’s Festival and International Women’s Day.
In her score for Cut Piece, Ono writes: “Cut Piece First version for single performer: Performer sits on stage with a pair of scissors in front of him. It is announced that members of the audience may come on stage—one at a time—to cut a small piece of the performer’s clothing to take with them. Performer remains motionless throughout the piece. Piece ends at the performer’s option.”
A Report by the Office of National Statistics 2016
This report aims to improve domestic abuse statistics, as well as analyse the way domestic abuse is dealt with at a local level in England and Wales. It states that:
There were an estimated 2.0 million adults aged 16 to 59 who said they were a victim of domestic abuse in the last year.
Women were more likely to report having experienced domestic abuse than men. Domestic abuse-related crimes recorded by the police accounted for approximately 1 in 10 of all crimes are a victim of domestic abuse in the last year.
The majority of domestic abuse (78%) consisted of violence against the person offences.
There were 432 domestic homicides recorded by the police in England and Wales, between April 2012 and March 2015. This represents 30% of all homicides where the victim was aged 16 and over during this time period. 27% of victims were male (117) and 73% of victims were female (315).
References
The Penny Beale Memorial Fund is a charity that was founded in 2005 by Penny Beale Snr. in memory of her daughter, who shared her name. Penny was killed in a savage attack by her partner after months of emotional and physical abuse, aged thirty-one. Her murderer is now out of prison having served a life sentence of eleven years. However, Penny’s story is not unique, it follows a pattern that is repeated daily worldwide.
HATCHED is a creative platform set up by artist and curator Maga Esberg to develop, make, and promote art addressing private and public female experiences.
You can view more of Miranda’s work at outsideherart.com