Adrian Piper

Since its inception, performance art provided a forum for those artists whose work challenges the dominant aesthetic and cultural status quo. In "Sphinxes Without Secrets", performers, curators and critics unravel the mysteries of performance art and ponder the world women confront today.

An excerpted segment from a film, Other Than Art's Sake by the Australian artist Peter Kennedy, this is a hilarious documentation and interview by Peter on my Mythic Being street performances. It shows me getting into and out of drag, rehearsing my mantra, and roaming the streets muttering it, followed by crowds of curious onlookers who are attracted by Peter's film equipment and technicians. Other Than Art's Sake also includes work by and interviews with Ian Breakwell, Judy Chicago and Arlene Raven, Hans Haacke, David Medalla, Charles Simonds, and Stephen Willats.

Between 1982 and 1984, Piper staged a series of events advertised as, Funk Lessons, which invited participants to learn about the dance styles, culture, and history of funk music. As documented in a video by Sam Samore, the experience transcended academic didacticism in favor of social exchange; Piper's mantra for the work was, "Get down and party together."