O嬢の物語 The Story of Miss O:

1967 saw Story of O performed in Japan, staged by Mika Ito (1936 -1970) avant-garde dancer and leader of the Bizar Dance Group. In the run up to the controversial first-night Mika was persauded to resign from her High School teaching post when the authorities feared a conlict between the sexual content of the advertised performance and her status as a teacher of eleven years. The first performance of “O Lady Story” was held in October 1967, with stage design by artist Kaneko Kuniyoshi, publicity design by Aki Uno, – Yotsuya Simon, doll-maker, assisted with costume design. A performance in the December of 1967 resulted in further controversy after the audience responded in a rather ‘hands-on’ fashion during the final scene.

O

STORY OF O

By THE RABBLE after Pauline Reage. Creators – Kate Davis and Emma Valente. Director – Emma Valente. Set & Costume Design – Kate Davis. Supported by NEON (Melbourne Theatre Company). The Lawler Studio – Southbank. June 27 – July 7, 2013.

“O is sexy, O is sublime, O is submissive, O is delicious, O is a mess, O is powerful, O is O. THE RABBLE take on Pauline Reage’s famous erotic novel Story of O, reinventing it as a surreal and erotic visual fantasia… THE RABBLE take you deeper – exploring the recesses of O’s mind, the depths of female sexuality, deviancy, arousal and submission. A luscious, visceral odyssey through O’s looking glass.
Story of O is THE RABBLE in their element : feminine, provocative, subversive and beautiful.”

“Mary Helen Sassman is mesmerising in the role of the central cipher, oscillating between brutalised innocent and hardcore seductress. Her annihilation plays out under a video camera’s watchful eye, projected onto the rear wall like an amateur porno. Such fantasies push the limits of our libertarianism — several people stormed out on opening night. Everyone will react differently, but the conversations it will generate are vital.”

Sydney Morning Herald
Rebecca Harkins-Cross
June 30, 2013

 

Performance

PARIS ‘O’
2016

One of the highlights of the autumn programme of experimental events at the Maison de la Poésie in Paris, on the night of 11th November 2016; a curious reading, with music, of Story of O: A glimpse of the evening is to be found on YouTube. “Story of O” – By Olivier Marguerit, based on the book by Pauline Réage, featured Céline Milliat-Baumgartner (reading) with live music accompaniment by Olivier Marguerit, Mathieu Geghre & Jérôme Laperruque, and stage performers Cassandre Munoz & Konstantinos Papanikolaou. Interestingly Olivier Marguerit, is also known as O, born in 1980, he is a French singer-songwriter, musician, multi-instrumentalist and arranger.

Rhythm 0
1974
ARTIST: Marina Abramovic (born 1946)

Although this performance at Studio Morra, Naples, strickly speaking, had nothing to do with Story of O, the artist must have been aware of the implications of the ‘zero’ in the title, which as in Story of O hints at a state of nothingness, of the negation of ego, of becoming an ‘object’. Abramovic chose to have amongst her props, a whip, chains, needles, blades and leather strings. Her instructions to the participating audience were:
There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.
I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.
Duration: 6 hours (8pm–2am.)

Thus, for a period of six hours, visitors were invited to use any of the objects on the table on the artist, who subjected herself to their treatment. The objects that could be ‘used on her’ were chosen to represent both pain and pleasure. The artist has stated, ‘the experience I drew from this work was that in your own performances you can go very far, but if you leave decisions to the public, you can be killed’

As with many of Abramovic’s works, themes surrounding the physicality of the body, endurance, pain and the staging of authentic live actions are dealt with in an experimental way, incurring a degree of personal risk and suffering. Through the risk to her own person in this work, and her acceptance of that risk, Abramovic also explored collective action and responsibility. The ritualistic and quasi-sacred character of the table-as-altarpiece is a common theme in Abramovic’s work, as is her own performative contribution.
Rhythm 0 is one of Abramovic’s most important works. It was the last work in a series of individual body art performance pieces that began with Rhythm 10, and according to the artist it presents ‘the conclusions of my research on the body when conscious and unconscious’.

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O – MUSIC

Polish speed-metal band DESTROYERS made a track called “History D’O”

Music from the 1975 film Story of O by Pierre Bachelet
Buy it @ Amazon.com

Lovely Frank Pourcel version of the main theme from the 1975 film

Download music from Story of O & Story of O 2