In Personal Cuts, which aired on prime-time Yugoslavian national television in 1982, Iveković counters the official history of socialism. Newsreel images—mass rallies, monuments, and a public address by Yugoslav President Tito—alternate with footage of the artist cutting holes into a sheer black stocking pulled over her face, like the DIY version of a militant’s balaclava. For Iveković, the repeated act of cutting into fabric is emblematic of film- and video-editing strategies such as montage. Revealing the insidiousness of national propaganda and questioning the unified stories told through official channels, she frames historical events as inextricably linked to human ones, ending the video with her face fully uncovered.

Gallery label from

2020

Medium Standard-definition video (color, sound)
Duration 4 min.
Credit Gift of Jerry I. Speyer and Katherine G. Farley, Anna Marie and Robert F. Shapiro, Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis, and Committee on Media and Performance Art Funds
Object number 127.2011
Department Media and Performance

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