THE BINARY GAME: EMANCIPATORY ACTION IN THE PERFORMANCES OF YOKO ONO AND TAKAKO SAITO

Abstract

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.