‘Mirror Piece’ (1963) by Mieko Shiomi

The third episode of our podcast presents Mirror Piece (1963) by Japanese artist Mieko Shiomi. This work, as many other Fluxus scores, does not have a singular manifestation but rather exists as many different entities, the material ones and the performative ones captured through documentation. Two versions of the handwritten score – in English and Japanese, live in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art, NY and belong to The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection. Mirror Piece exists also as one of the cards in Events and Games —a Fluxbox and a multiple designed and arranged by George Maciunas (c. 1964) and later re-editioned on several occasions. The work can be appreciated through interpretations of performance artists as well, including an instance by Elina Brotherus who experimented with various pieces by Shiomi, and Dicky Bahto, Taylor Doran, Tatiana Luboviski-Acosta and Yvonne Tam version commissioned by The Getty Museum in 2021. In this episode, Sally Kawamura gives a playful guided tour through diverse instances of the Mirror Piece including her own experience in enacting it on a Welsh beach.