Sophie Risner from Doing What Comes Naturally wrote this below in response:
We were really excited when Chloe said that she’d be happy to perform as part of our event. In our heads we’d had in mind the idea of a closing performance which hinged on the ‘Spare Rib’ collection – unpacking it, reflecting on it, delving into it as we had done for the 6 months of research we undertook prior to the event taking place...
…Working for the Tate Library and Archive department I’m always interested in how artists interact with Library or Archive collections – how they re-imagine them and re-work them to make it not only relevant to today’s discourse, but – in the case of Chloe’s performance – highlighting the positive intersectional aspects of ‘Spare Rib’ rubbing the tone of the magazine against the frustrations we still felt today...
…Chloe re-presented the past as a fictional realm of possibility and hope – doing so in a matter of fact manner which crafted a space that seemed more realistic and plausible the further the performance went.
After the performance finished it seemed odd to think back to what actually happened in the past, to think through how it could all have been so different and how ‘When Things Happen’ they transform the narrative of the future. Of course hindsight is a wonderful tool, but Chloe has masterminded it in a unique and emotional way which allows the audience a possibility to engage with decisions that aren’t too far-fetched, this is because these decisions are being made by Feminists up and down the country and all over the World and by highlighting those choices we maybe come to realise that change is represented by the people most affected.
Megan and I would like to thank Chloe for her time, effort, amazing research and thought provoking performance.
– Sophie Risner
Performed at Doing What Comes Naturally Presents: Spare Rib at The Feminist Library and Louche Women Presents a Season in Sci Fi: Time Travel, The Poetry Society, London
Thanks to Leslie Deere for the video, Sophie Risner and Megan Pickering from Doing What Comes Naturally and everyone at the Feminist Library.