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19 Dec 2012

Cut the world (music, art)

This video has hit the Internet recently.
You can use it as a nice creative lesson, but mostly for adult students.

Music: Antony and the Johnson, Cut the World
Art: Marina Abramovic - 'grandmother' of performance art
Discussion: Present your Students with some Internet comments and ask for their own opinion. Also, you may introduce the topic of transgender and discuss it.
Activity: Ask Sts to write their own Internet comments on their understanding of the video 

Directed by photographer and video artist Nabil Elderkin, Cut the World is an extremely simple yet beautiful video open to interpretation.

Lyrics:

For so long I've obeyed that feminine decree
I've always contained your desire to hurt me
But when will i turn and cut the world?

My eyes are coral - absorbing your dreams
My skin is a surface to push to extremes
My heart is a record of dangerous scenes
but when will I turn and cut the world
When will I turn and cut the world?

Art: Marina Abramovic appears in the last scene of this video to make a clear link between the content of the video and the body art she performs. She is a very interesting artist and her piece "rhythm 0, 1974" (HERE) is very important in performance history.

Internet comments:
1) "The end of the patriarchal systems of governance encapsulated in one music video... WOW."
2)  "This video is horrible and sends a false message. We are shown the 'feminine' is overtaking the 'masculine' when the truth is that we need a balance of both"
3) "Oh God, women no longer need men! But this video is absolutely right, because we men are primarily responsible for the biggest crap of humanity" [pay attention that crap is vulgar]
4) "The lyrics explain that this person is a man who urges to become a woman, therefore he has to kill his male self, which is frightening. It has nothing to do with female rebellion or inciting violence against men".

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