Anahita Razmi’s performance RE / CUT PIECE is the appropriation of Yoko Ono’s seminal 1964 performance Cut Piece. In Yoko Ono’s performance, the artist sat on stage with a pair of scissors next to her. The audience was then invited to enter the stage and to cut a piece of the artist’s clothing. In various art reviews it is described as a “feminist” piece; a participatory performance, co-created by what the audience brings to it. Anahita Razmi takes this concept out of its original context and refocuses it: the rather insignificant performance dress that was worn by Yoko Ono in the sixties, is exchanged for a luxurye black Gucci Dress. The focus on the value of the dress invades the performance with new associations and meanings. Yoko Ono’s piece, which was originally shown in Japan and New York, is now re-performed in Dubai. This new location brings with it its own associations of luxury, megalomania and nouveau-riche. Yet such icons seem to be ambivalent and in a state of constant transformation. As in the original performance, the viewer was invited to enter the stage to cut off a piece of the artist’s robe. The performance RE / CUT PIECE took place at Carbon 12 during the opening of Anahita Razmi’s solo exhibition Automatic Assembly Actions on January 14th and will be on view until March 14, 2013. And stay tuned to Pas Un Autre for an exclusive interview with the artist.