The Politics of the 'Practitioner'

It's the question I've been asked the most this year that I'm so often the least prepared to answer: "...and how does [x] relate to your practice?" It's come up in universities, in galleries, in board rooms, in blogs (of course).
So I try to start with defining my practice -- which is always, always (painfully) contextual. "Practice" seems like a code word to begin with. My "practice" -- is that what I've published, what I've got certificates for, what I get paid to show up to do? Am I expected to situate my nakedness (and where that occurs) within the rhetoric of performance -- like, that wasn't really me, or all of me, I was just 'being' that girl for 'research.' I forget these days when I'm not 'that girl.' Kathy Acker (herself straddling a similar divide) nailed it when it comes to writing that paranoia that comes from walking around with a marked body, a combination of scars and ripped-up hems, some of them you chose and some just how shit happened.


More...