Adrian Piper is a very interesting artist, and one who’s work is very hard to understand at times as it is very philosophical in nature. Piper blurred the lines between art, performance and social commentary, making a lot of people question whether or not she was creating art in the first place. The main focus of this entry will be on the thought-provoking performance pieces she did in the early 1970’s titled Catalysis. There are multiple performances, but I will only be discussing a few in greater detail.  If you’re new to art, or have never been exposed to performance art, I hope you leave this entry with a new appreciation for the medium.

For your reference:
*Performance art: A performance meant to be viewed by an audience. It can be scripted or completely made up on the spot and include audience participation if desired.

Background: Piper was born in New York City in 1948 to an upper middle class black family. She attended private school before going on to get her Associates degree from The School of Visual Arts. After that, she got her BA in Philosophy from CUNY (City University of New York) and her MA and PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University.

She taught at various schools across the US including Wellesley, Stanford and Harvard, among others. As of now, Piper lives in Berlin, Germany where she heads The Berlin Journal of Philosophy.

For Piper, art and activism came hand in hand, even if it wasn’t entirely intentional at first. She focused a lot on the organic interaction between viewer and artist, being careful to not let anyone know when she was doing a performance. She knew that if people were aware she was doing a piece, they would respond differently than they would if they had no clue what she was doing.

Other common themes in Piper’s work include racism, otherness, gender roles and passing.

As mentioned earlier, the main focus will be on her Catalysis performances, but first I wanted to share a few non-performance pieces by her.

Self-Portrait Exaggerating My Negroid Features (1981)
Pencil on paper.
Piper, a black woman, was often thought by others to be white. This is where she tackles the ideas of race and passing. Her self portrait shows both how she felt as a person versus what people saw, and how society in general viewed the black woman. She wanted people to confront their own, inward or not, racist views head on. Another thing she would do was hand out calling cards during social events to people who made racist remarks in her presence. The card informed the recipient: that she was black, that she liked to tell people ahead of time about her race to avoid these conversations but couldn’t always do so, and that she is aware the card may make them uncomfortable just like their racist comments made her feel uncomfortable. If you want to see more pieces like these, look up: The Barbie Doll Drawings( 1967), Calling Cards (1986), Self Portrait as a Nice White Lady (1995).

Catalysis III (1970)
Performance.
This particular piece included Piper taking an outfit of hers and covering it in white paint. She then put a sign across her shirt that said “WET PAINT” and walked down busy streets and went shopping at Macy’s.

Catalysis I  (1970)
Performance.
For this piece she soaked her outfit in a solution of eggs, milk, vinegar, and cod oil for one week. After that, she wore the clothes in public. This included bus and train rides during rush hour and the elevator to the top of the Empire State Building.

Catalysis IV (1970)
Performance.
Again, during evening rush on the trains and bus, she would dress nicely but stuff her mouth with a towel and let it hang out in plain view.

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Piper gets really philosophical with these pieces, talking about the idea of self-awareness of what she was doing and how she responded to those coming into her consciousness while she did these pieces, and coming into other’s consciousness while performing. With this type of performance, Piper put herself on display and was opening herself to direct and immediate criticism from those she came into contact with, or in this case, the unknowing viewers of the performances.

When asked if she was making a statement about being a young black woman, she claimed it was not the initial intention, but understands how one could come to that conclusion. She said that art is usually in response to society, so in a way, the fact that she was making these pieces probably had something to do with her place in society. More of Piper’s insight on her pieces can be found in the interview done by Lucy Lippard in The Drama Review titled “Catalysis: An Interview With Adrian Piper”.

When talking about Piper’s performances, I like to tell people about her performances first, and watch as their faces scrunch up in a mixture of confusion, fascination and disgust. I then like to follow it up with telling them that this artist went on to obtain her PhD in Philosophy from Harvard University. Suddenly, everyone takes her “gross” low-brow performances and sees them as something more scholarly and high-brow. This sentiment exactly parallels her choice to not disclose when she was performing, the viewer’s attitude changes.

Sources:
“Adrian Piper | Global ACtIVISm.” Adrian Piper | Global ACtIVISm. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2015.

Lippard, Lucy, and Adrian Piper. “Catalysis: An Interview With Adrian Piper.” The Drama Review 16.1 (1972): 76-78. JSTOR. Web.