Clairvoyantly, Andrew Levy, a close friend of Weiner’s in her later years (he knew her from 1985 on), chose to read overlapping passages from Spoke that also underscored Weiner’s commitments to ethical and political urgencies. He read these passages in tandem, reminiscing about Weiner’s love for popular culture, and especially for children’s cartoons. In closing, Levy read a longer passage from Weiner’s poem, “Radcliffe and Guatemalan Women,” where Weiner alternates lines lifted from writings by Radcliffe alumnae (Weiner herself was an alumna) and women workers in Guatemala during the 1980s. Here, it is striking how such a simple procedure—the juxtaposition of two texts from wildly different and conflicting contexts—can produce such an intense and angering effect in the right hands.

For us, the earth is sacred
We will succeed
When I was fifteen, in 1973, my father was arrested for the first time
They can call on a lot of PHD’s for technical abilities
It was all the rich who persecuted us campesinos
Let’s make the most of them
He suffered a lot of pain and could not work in the fields
For all those women throughout the world who are torn by political and economic
revolution and by attacks against home and family
We taught the children how to guard the road during the day
A truly liberating education
Soon afterward my father was killed… burned alive inside the embassy
With an appreciation of the humanistic worlds (Open House, 95)

Before intermission, Carolee Schneemann presented a slide-show in which she “waited” for slides of Weiner to appear. In the meantime, Schneemann appeared in the slides with various lovers (many of whom she asked the audience to identify) and friends shared by herself and Weiner. I loved Schneemann’s performance for its playfulness and the dialogue it established with the audience. In this performance there was the air of a “trip down memory lane,” as Schneemann seemed surprised by the ordering of the slides showing herself and others at gatherings in the 1960s and 70s, having fun and hanging-out. Often, when Schneemann would not remember someone’s name (or claimed not to) someone in the audience would blurt out the name, exciting other audience members to do the same. When Weiner finally did appear in the slides, Schnemann recalled the photos were taken on a day when Weiner planned to cook dinner for others, and offered that Weiner was a great cook when she put in the effort. Among these photos were some of Weiner and Schneemann with their cats. Schneemann’s performance ended with a loud “meow” evoking the meeting of her cat with Weiner’s and joyously affirming the affinity and friendship of the two artists.