Performance Art and Feminism: Bodies of Care and Patience

Abstract

This paper examines the concepts of “care” and “patience” under capitalism and in relation to social reproduction theory through performative works of art. The idea that reproduction is not about creating life but instead the creation of new workers has preoccupied a new wave of feminist theorists and activists who wish to explore women’s place and labour in and outside the sphere of production and explain the relationship between oppression and exploitation. Although working class women have been carrying the burden of the extra physical, mental and emotional labour generated by the Coronavirus disease of 2019, social reproduction theorists and survey data show that women have been performing a disproportionate amount of unpaid care and housework long before the pandemic. The feminisation and devaluation of care labour that patriarchal capitalism promotes can only lead to women’s systematic subjugation. Through the critical feminist analysis of performative works by Chrysi Tsiota, Fotini Kalle and Angeliki Avgitidou that draws on the writings of Silvia Federici, Tithi Bhattacharya and Emma Dowling among others, and the theorisation of “patience” by philosophers Slavoj Žižek and Alain Badiou this paper interconnects the notions of care and patience to expose women’s economic and sexist exploitation and deepen our understanding of everyday life in neoliberal capitalism. Arguing that despite the intense engagement of Greek women artists with issues around reproductive labour, the lack of a feminist art history and theory in Greece has led to the marginalisation of such discussions, this paper aims to bring in light important works of performance art and the necessity for such issues to be addressed within the Greek borders.