Bed-In CUT PIECE

On 28 Oct 2010 and on 9 Dec 2010 The Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent at Home re-enacted Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’, with a contemporary twist. It’s time for cuts! This was a critique of Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) which was delivered by the Chancellor George Osborne on the 20th of October. The public sector is being slashed and burnt before our very eyes. Mother and the children were hid underneath the large white sheet, whilst the father addressed the audience of students and visitors to the Bluecoat from the baby step. The father screamed and shouted about the austerity of cuts. He announced many many public sector cuts and encouraged students, one by one, to come and cut the white sheet underneath which mother and the children hid. The mother intervened into his speeches a few times and talked about the pensions and the French, the multi billion tax dodgers Arcadia Group and Vodafone, the invisible labour of mothers and housewives, and finally the free labour of the artists. The piece was a comment on our own situation as both artists and a family with three children. In Oct Father finally called all the students to arms, to the Demo-lition march Fund Our Future which was taking place on 10 th November in London. In Dec the Institute acknowledged the ongoing vote at the Parliament about tuition fees and vowed to continue the fight.

They say CUT BACK we say FIGHT BACK.

Full performance text Bed-In CUT PIECE (Oct and Dec version)

The Institute for the Art and Practice of Dissent wishes to disclose that the Bluecoat makes artists work for free. We performed the Bed-In for free. We got some tea/coffee and lunch. We asked the organizers to provide us with two white sheets for cutting and two pairs of scissors. The organizers told us they could not provide the sheets, but can provide scissors. We ended up covering the cost of the sheets ourselves. £12. In December we received a sheet for our performance.

It is time to END FREE ARTIST LABOUR! Join the struggle – demand a wage