Lynn Hershman Neeson, Roberta Construction Chart #2, 1975
There was a movement within feminist art that dealt with costumes, disguises and fantasies. These self-transformations were a way to explore the expanding boundaries of the self and the expansion of identity. Many were trying to answer questions like: “Who am I?”, “What makes me, me?”, “Where does my identity start and end?”. These transformations were the opposite of disguise because they created a whole new persona, a new person.
Masquerade is usually seen as the site at which gender is performed, but this type of masquerade blurs the line between art and life; in a way, they finction as metaphors for understanding human behaviour.
Anyways, Leeson created the persona of Roberta Breitmore. Most of the art surrounding Roberta shows examples of her life, like photos, her driver’s license, etc. This piece in particular is how Leeson becomes Roberta; it is almost reminiscent of plastic surgery.
(via girlsgetbusyzine)
