Maybe there was blood on the foil : The assassination attempt of Andy Warhol, SCUM, and Valerie Solanas as a performance artist.

Abstract: This essay examines the intersection of Valerie Solanas' radical feminist manifesto, the S.C.U.M. (Society of Cutting Up Men) manifesto, and her attempted assassination of Andy Warhol in 1968, proposing that the latter can be understood as a sophisticated piece of performance art. Solanas' manifesto, penned in 1967, challenged societal norms, advocating for the overthrow of patriarchal structures. Through a lens of performativity theory, which emphasizes the performative nature of language and actions, this essay reinterprets Solanas' actions as deliberate expressions of her feminist beliefs. Tracing Solanas' life, from her early struggles to her involvement in the avant-garde art scene of New York City, highlighting her interactions with Warhol's Factory and her provocative works. Solanas' attempted assassination of Warhol, while initially perceived as a psychotic act, is reframed as a conscious enactment of her manifesto's principles, challenging dominant power dynamics. By reframing the assassination attempt as a form of performance art, this essay sheds new light on Solanas' legacy, emphasizing the transformative potential of art as a tool for social critique and change.