Campaign as performance
october 12, 1991
EVEN FROM THE FIRST CAMPAIGN LETTER, MYLES' CAMPAIGN IS A PERFORMATIVE ONE. IT IS ALSO ONE THAT IS LARGELY IDENTITY-DRIVEN.
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IDENTITY IS THE ULTIMATE ACT OF PERFORMANCE AND IT IS THE SOLE PERFORMANCE THAT THREADS THROUGHOUT ONE'S LIFE. MYLES' IDENTITY IS INEXTRICABLY LINKED TO THEIR CAMPAIGN, AND THE ACT OF CAMPAIGNING AS A "FEMALE, A LESBIAN, FROM A WORKING CLASS BACKGROUND... WITHOUT HEALTHCARE" IS RADICAL IN AND OF ITSELF.
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THE PERFORMANCE OF THE CAMPAIGN IS ALSO A WAY TO ACCESS THE CONVERSATION OF POLITICAL POWER IN A WAY THAT HAS BEEN MADE TRADITIONALLY IMPOSSIBLE.
NOVEMBER 18, 1991
EILEEN MYLES REFERS TO THEIR CANDIDACY AS "THE ONLY GESTURE POSSIBLE IN A DESPERATE LIFE." THE REFERENCE TO THE CAMPAIGN AS A "GESTURE" IS INTERESTING AS IT IMPLIES THAT THE CAMPAIGN IS AS MUCH AN ART PIECE AS IT IS POLITICAL ACTIVISM.
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THE OTHER INTERESTING THING IS THAT MYLES VIEWS ALL POLITICS AS A PERFORMANCE TO A CERTAIN EXTENT. MYLES SEES THE ATTITUDE OF POLITICS AS "ONE FACE... NEVER CHANGES."
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MYLES WISHES THAT POLITICIANS WOULD ADMIT THAT THEY WERE "SCARED," AND IN RESPONSE, MYLES MADE THEIR CAMPAIGN INTIMATE AND DEEPLY PERSONAL.
EILEEN MYLES' CAMPAIGN SPEECHES HAD INTRIGUE BECAUSE THEY WROTE THEMSELVES. THUS THE SPEECHES AND LETTERS WERE POETIC AND PROFOUND AND RARELY BORING.
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ALSO, THESE PIECES (MYLES' CAMPAIGN LETTERS AND SPEECHES) ARE INFUSED WITH PERSONALITY. OFTEN, THIS DISPLAYS ITSELF IN ACERBIC HUMOR AND OCCASIONALLY SHOCKING JOKES.
IN THIS POEM DELIVERED BY MYLES IN FRONT OF A PLANNED PARENTHOOD, THEY REFER TO "LESBIAN SEX" AS A FORM OF BIRTH CONTROL. THIS IS A HUMOROUS WAY OF PHRASING THE IDEA WHICH ULTIMATELY DRAWS IN THE AUDIENCE TO RELATE WITH MYLES.
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December 14, 1991
THIS IS MYLES' LAST CORRESPONDENCE WITH THEIR MAILING LIST. IN IT, MYLES DRAMATIZES THE ACT OF VOTING.
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THIS DRAMATIZATION EXTENDS THE PERFORMANCE FROM THEM TO THE ACT OF WRITING IN. THROUGH THE PERFORMANCE, PEOPLE ACCESS THE POWER.
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THE WRITE-IN VOTE IS THEN NOT JUST ABOUT GETTING ONE PERSON ELECTED, BUT ABOUT EXPANDING THE CONVERSATION OF POLITICS TO ANYONE WILLING TO TAKE A STAND.
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OCTOBER 12, 1992
EILEEN MYLES DID SOMETHING UNIQUE BY RUNNING AS THE "FIRST OPENLY FEMALE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE." THEY CIRCUMVENTED TRADITIONAL ROUTES OF ACCESSING POWER BY RUNNING A WRITE-IN CAMPAIGN, AND BY ACTIVELY PERFORMING THEIR IDENTITY ON A NATIONAL STAGE, SUBVERTED TRADITIONAL ROLES OF WHO CAN ACCESS POLITICS.
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THE CAMPAIGN, WHILE SMALL COMPARATIVE TO OTHER CAMPAIGNS, WAS MONUMENTAL. IT DID SOMETHING DIFFERENT, BOTH POLITICALLY AND ARTISTICALLY. MYLES MADE POLITICS MORE ARTISTIC, AND MYLES ALSO SHOWED THAT ART CAN BE PERFORMATIVE IN A REAL-LIFE POLITICAL MANNER.