Re-Imagined: Space, History, and Feminist Performance in 1970s Los Angeles

Shannon Lieberman
History of Art and Architecture
UC Santa Barbara

This project investigated the relationship between Los Angeles, 1970s feminist performance art, and the concept of a usable feminist past. Focused on performance art created at the Los Angeles Woman’s Building, this research revealed how feminist performance artists were shaped by the city of Los Angeles, but also actively re-imagined the city as a feminist space through performances that intervened in everyday life. Through archival research and interviews, this project examined how 1970s feminist performance artists related their work to a feminist past and conceived of their work as a model for subsequent generations of women. Blending theories of representation, performance, space, and archiving, this research critically assessed the role of documentation in 1970s feminist performance art as a means of determining what it means to have a usable past, and why Los Angeles is central.