Interior Scroll

Interior Scroll

Carolee Schneemann mid-performance

This is a classic example of performance and art intertwining. Here Schneemann stands in front of a crowd, mostly of women artists, and undresses. She then paints her body and begins to remove a scroll from her vagina and reads the words that are written along the margins of the picture. This picture is just a still from the actual performance since it was never fully recorded. On the picture Schneemann herself used coffee, beet juice, and urine to distress the pages upon which the picture is placed. This performance exemplifies the performance of gender in the art world. Schneemann believed that bodies are only for sexuality, but she also uses her art and the body to say that the body is the essence of knowledge and experience. This piece is considered fundamental to feminist performance art.

Carolee Schneemann

Tate Modern

Given to the Tate by Carolee Schneemann

1975

Beet juice, urine and coffee on screenprint on paper Dimensions: Image: 905 x 1830 mm
Frame:1015 x 1956 x 60mm

English

performance piece photographed