Yoko Ono's controversial 'Cut Piece' is being re-staged live, exploring its enduring power, vulnerability, and evolving meaning through a new performance by artist MPA.
Yoko Ono's landmark 1964 performance 'Cut Piece,' where the artist sat motionless as strangers cut away her clothing, is featured in a traveling retrospective at The Broad museum. This Fluxus piece, which relies on audience interaction, is inherently risky due to the artist's vulnerability. To convey its full impact beyond archival footage, The Broad is staging live performances at the Redcat theater on July 17 and 18, performed by Los Angeles-based artist MPA. MPA, known for exploring political realities through her body, accepted the invitation with trepidation, not about the physical risk, but about making such a well-known piece feel contemporary and impactful in 2026, questioning if it could still 'have that sting' or merely be a re-enactment. Connor Monahan, director of Ono's studio, emphasizes that each presentation of 'Cut Piece' is a new performance, defined by its specific audience, time, and place, rather than a restaging, as Ono intended it to explore choices and participation rather than a fixed outcome. Ono's own relationship with the piece evolved from anger over the treatment of women's bodies to a gesture of peace and love by her last performance in 2003. MPA identifies with the violent subtext of Ono's early work, having processed personal trauma through her own art, and now aims to hold the duality of anger and love in her performance. She has chosen garments by designers familiar with war and state-sanctioned violence and is preparing mentally for the piece's physical and emotional demands. MPA acknowledges the lingering provocation of the scissors but finds reassurance and power in Ono's wordless composure, reaffirming the potency of live art.
