Lynn Hershman Leeson.
Roberta's Construction Chart #2. 1976
Between 1974 and 1978,
Leeson assumed the fictional alter ego Roberta Breitmore, a single
woman in the San Francisco Bay area during years of tumultuous social
upheaval. Breitmore’s background, education, and childhood memories
are a composite of accumulated psychological data. Leeson, as
Breitmore, wore makeup, a blond wig, and a certain style of clothing;
she maintained a small apartment, had a checking account, credit
cards, and a driver’s license, saw a psychiatrist, participated in
the Weight Watchers diet program, and placed personal ads looking for
dates—men who became unwitting participants in her performance. In
the third year of the project, Leeson engaged three other people to
perform as Breitmore. The performance concluded in November 1978,
commemorated by an exorcism of Breitmore in the Gallerie d’Arte
Moderna e Contemporanea, in Ferrara, Italy. All that remains is a
cache of documentation, including photographs, drawings, surveillance
reports, films, letters, and legal and medical papers; a selection is
on view here.
Chromogenic color
print, printed 2003, 22 15/16 x 29 5/8" (58.3 x 75.3 cm). The
Museum of Modern Art, New York. The Modern Women’s Fund. © 2013
Lynn Hershman Leeson
