Thanks Jeff for this invaluable contribution to the discussion. I had never seen this second performance from 1966, but it highlights that Yoko Ono in fact considered her piece something to reperform. She did it again in 2003, documented in color this time and part of a context of peaceful actions that connect every participant to the artist. In all three instances, the artist has changed the context and format. When we exhibited "Cut Piece" in 2008 at SFMOMA, Yoko Ono requested that we show both versions side by side. The artist thus not only invites the comparison between the various iterations, it becomes part of the work. We still might prefer one or the other, but the ultimate question is if the work substantially changes when other performers replace Yoko Ono. And this has been done in the past as well. I wouldn't argue in favor or against it at this point, but rather underline how important it is that we can have such a discussion on what constitutes the work based on the actual experience of these different iterations.
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