Do Not Look Away
Ono, Oliveros, Inauguration Day
Be in touch, simply do not look away. Grasp nothing, hold nothing. There is just now, here, fresh, new, alive. - Harada Tangen Roshi
The newsletter has been dark for a little while, but it doesn’t mean nothing’s going on.
I’m happy to share a special performance with you all.
rebeccabryantnovak.com#donotlookaway
About the Performance
January 20th, 2025
Martin Luther King, Jr, Day | Inauguration Day
Christ Church | 141 East Ave. | Rochester, NY
6 pm, doors open 5:30
RSVP requested but not required
Do Not Look Away is a performance of Yoko Ono’s iconic Cut Piece, which invites the audience to cut pieces of the performer’s clothing to take with them, followed by Pauline Oliveros’ The Tuning Meditation, a participatory vocal work.
Donations will be accepted for NOIRE House, a housing co-op in the city of Rochester, providing below-market-rate rents for women, families and LGBTQIAA+ folks, plus a transitional housing unit.
Do Not Look Away is a participatory performance, and all audience members are invited to participate to whatever degree they are comfortable. Instructions will be provided, or you will find them linked here.
Do Not Look Away is part of Twin Devotions, hosted by Christ Church Rochester. Christ Church hosts a community vigil the following evening, January 21st, at 6 pm, with doors opening at 5:30 pm. Rochester Philharmonic harpist Grace Browning plays contemplative music, and all are welcome to use the sacred time and space for prayer and meditation.
RSVP and Donate
If you’re local, I hope you’ll join me. If you’re not and you’d like to show your support, please consider making a donation to NOIRE House. And, of course, please share with friends and on social media.
From my artist’s statement
I've been struck by the fact that our culture and institutions still force those who experience harm - often marginalized by gender or race - to make the impossible trade of privacy for sympathy, exposure for recourse. Cut Piece - or one of it’s many layers, anyway - speaks to that phenomenon in a powerful way.
But Cut Piece needn’t be a one-dimensional work. Among other things, Ono describes it as a kind of offering, even a lighthearted one…
There's no denying Cut Piece‘s darker elements, particularly in the context of this day. Participating in the piece will be uncomfortable. It’s supposed to be. But while it’s natural to focus on what you are doing to the performer, it’s also worth considering what the performer is offering to you - with full agency, even if some of that agency is willingly, consciously surrendered.
And if Cut Piece seems like a work for “solo performer,” The Tuning Meditation makes it obvious that there is no such thing. Everyone present is a participant.
If you participate in Cut Piece by taking, you participate in The Tuning Meditation by giving - giving your unique voice to this space at this moment, and giving your deepest listening to each unique voice around you.
These works are infinitely simple, infinitely complex, and experiencing them can provoke an infinite number of reflections, reactions, and insights. My hope is that you find in them whatever is most meaningful to you, right here, right now.
Rebecca Bryant Novak
Back soon with more to tell you.