(2021) Rasmussen, Claire; Saggese, Jordana; Art History and Archaeology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
This thesis explores the ways in which the artists Yoko Ono and Takako Saito used intermedia art to communicate a vision of racial and gender equity. My study will draw from archival materials and personal correspondence, and will focus on three main works: Yoko Ono’s Morning Piece (1964/1965), Takako Saito’s Flux Chess series (c. 1965), and Yoko Ono’s White Chess Set (1966). I argue that Ono and Saito associate gender with ideologies of peace and care characterize the phenomenology of their performances, imbuing feminist ethics into the very structure of the performance itself. I argue that Ono and Saito reinterpret gendered power dynamics to create new forms of social relationship centered around feminist values.
