Spectator Response and Comprehension: The Problem of Karen Finley's "Constant State of Desire"

Abstract

In some critical circles, women's performance art in the tradition of Laurie Anderson, Carolee Schneemann, and Rachel Rosenthal is considered the concrete manifestation of postmodernist feminist theory. In those circles, women performance artists are speaking subjects who exemplify H6lkne Cixous's mandate that women must the body (see 198Ia; I98Ib). Other feminist critics do not so readily embrace the idea that women's performance art is the ultimate expression of ecriturefrminine, but agree that, at the very least, the medium presents a possible alternative to dominant masculine theatrical traditions.1 Spectator response, however, raises uncomfortable questions about the nature of women's performance art, the intentions of the performers, and the desired-as distinct from the actual-effects on the audience. The resistance that often greets performance art causes us to ask: Who is the audience for this work, are they listening and comprehending, and are the ideas being communicated effectively? As a context for this discussion it should be noted that in the past, spectator response, even to relatively benign forms of feminist performance, has often been ambivalent. Indeed most playwrights who embrace feminist objectives encounter resistance from male and sometimes even female spectators, and establishment critics write contemptuously of feminist performance.2 If the spoken or unspoken objectives of feminist performance are to deconstruct patriarchy (see Forte I988), to drive wedges into hegemonic discourse, this perpetual resistance causes us to ask whether those objectives are being accomplished. Women's performance art is radical even within the broad spectrum of feminist theatre. Among average spectators, response to it often transcends passive resistance, and even feminist critics are divided. Perhaps no current performance artist better exemplifies the problematic relationship between postmodernist feminist theory, the practice of feminist performance, and spectator response than Karen Finley.