performance art

performance art multimedia art form originating in the 1970s in which performance is the dominant mode of expression. Perfomance art may incorporate such elements as instrumental or electronic music, song, dance, television, film, sculpture, spoken dialogue, and storytelling. The roots of this art lie in early 20th-century modernist experiments with mixed media, particularly in Dada performances. The direct antecedent of performance art, however, can be found in the happenings of the late 1950s and the 1960s. Among the most obvious differences between the two is that the later movement tends to be much less spontaneous in nature than the earlier and that happenings were almost always created by visual artists, whereas performance artists generally have more varied backgrounds, many in theater, writing, or dance.

Primarily an avant-garde form, performance art is often emotional and topical, frequently dealing with political and personal matters and with issues such as race, class, and feminism. Probably the best-known contemporary American performance artist is Laurie Anderson ; others include Nam June Paik (earlier also involved with happenings), Michael Smith, Vito Acconci, Carolee Schneeman, and Martha Wilson. Often classified as performance artists are such monologist-writers Eric Bogosian, Spalding Gray, Karen Finley, Anna Deavere Smith, and John Leguizamo.

Bibliography: See G. Battcock and R. Nickas ed., The Art of Performance (1983); M. Roth ed., The Amazing Decade: Women and Performance Art in America, 1970-1980 (1983); R. Goldberg, Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present (1988); H. M. Sayre, The Object of Performance (1989); C. Carr, On Edge: Performance at the End of the Twentieth Century (1993); P. Phelan, Unmarked: The Politics of Performance (1993); and E. Diamond, ed., Performance and Cultural Politics (1996).

performance art Events that take place before an audience, but which defy the traditional definitions of drama and music. Arguably originating in the USA in the 1960s, performance art is often visually oriented. It tends to be multi-disciplinary, and sometimes improvised or spontaneous.

Performance art. An art form combining elements of theatre, music, and the visual arts. It is related to the happening (the two terms are sometimes used synonymously), but Performance art is usually more carefully programmed and generally does not involve audience participation. The tradition of Performance art can be traced back to the Futurists, Dadaists, and Surrealists, who often staged humorous or provocative events to promote their work or ideas, then through such activities as Georges Mathieu painting in front of an audience in the 1950s and Yves Klein directing nude models smeared with paint in the early 1960s. However, it was only in the later 1960s and particularly in the 1970s that Performance art became recognized as a category of art in itself. ‘At that time’, RoseLee Goldberg writes, ‘Conceptual art was in its heyday and performance was often a demonstration, or an execution, of [its] ideas…Art spaces devoted to performance sprang up in the major international art centres, museums sponsored festivals, art colleges introduced performance courses, and specialist magazines appeared’ (Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present, 1988). The form and tone of Performances have varied enormously. Some practitioners have cultivated sadomasochism and scatology (the abuse of the performer's body is something that often occurs also in Body art, with which Performance art sometimes overlaps). In Britain, however, the field has more often been characterized by whimsicality (in the 1970s there was a fad for Performance groups with quaint names and for wacky newsworthy stunts). Performance art has also been used as an adjunct to rock music (the American Laurie Anderson (1947– ) is the most noted exponent) and as a vehicle for political dissent, as well as for the exploration of private fantasies. Among the artists particularly associated with Performance art are Joseph Beuys and Gilbert and George.