Artist Talk: Maggie Nelson

Last week I attended the graduate lecture series featuring the author Maggie Nelson. Her literature, however, is far from traditional and focuses mainly on the analysis and cultural impact of various forms of art. Her most recent work, The Art of Cruelty: A Reckoning (2011), was the topic of her discussion. She discussed several past works, including the infamous “cut piece” by Yoko Ono, in which members of the audience were invited one by one to use a pair of scissors to cut off her clothing. Other pieces, too, where performers would physically inflict pain on themselves, paint with blood, or recreate unknowingly in front of their observers a rape scene or appear as a murder victim. Nelson's book The Art of Cruelty examines the cultural significance of this performance art as it relates to the female psyche. Her images and passages were both shocking and moving, showing just how far the boundaries of art can be stretched to make a point.