Radical performativity in the art of Anne Bean

This paper explores how Anne Bean’s performances in the 1970s intersected with feminist and punk practice. Bean’s bold encounters with the elements, as captured in the series of photos featured in the WiR exhibition, Heat (1974-77) and Shouting Mortality as I Drown (1977) [original performance in 1973], form the core of the presentation, highlighting the transgressive aspect of her work. As the performances were, by definition, transitory, the importance of their documentation through photos, videos, and flyers is examined, along with the impact of reworking and defacing them. Her performances as Anne-Archy, with the music and theatrical group, The Moodies (formerly known as Moody and the Menstruators) [1971], which pushed the boundaries by being an outré all-female (and one gay male pianist) act, are also featured. Their pushing at the boundaries was to inspire the all-female punk band The Slits among others, who collectively embraced failure as a form of creative resistance. The ephemerality of her work, along with a reluctance to court art-world acclaim, offer indications of why this artist has been relatively overlooked, despite her importance. Such an approach, which forms an alternative to an art establishment endorsed career, was paralleled in the women’s movement, but while performance was an essential strand of feminist art in the 1970s, Bean resisted any affiliation with this movement, perceiving it as constrained by gender. However, she retrospectively embraced the term, and this ambiguity, echoed among the punk women that followed her, is further unpacked through the presentation.