Performance art

Performance art differs from traditional theater in its rejection of a clear narrative, use of random or chance-based structures, and direct appeal to the audience.

c. 1960 - present

videos + essays

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Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College

Black Mountain College was a highly influential school founded in North Carolina, USA, in 1933 where teaching was experimental and committed to an interdisciplinary approach

Shiraga Kazuo, <em>Challenging Mud (Doro ni idomu)</em>
Shiraga Kazuo, Challenging Mud (Doro ni idomu)

A single dramatic overhead shot captures the artist covered in a viscous mud, struggling to free his left leg from the thickly piled muck atop which he lies.

Gordon Matta-Clark, <em>Splitting</em>
Gordon Matta-Clark, Splitting

Gordon Matta-Clark’s interventions explored modernist architecture and urban decay.

Mierle Laderman Ukeles, <em>Washing/Tracks/Maintenance: Outside (July 23, 1973)</em>
Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Washing/Tracks/Maintenance: Outside (July 23, 1973)

The artist asks us if maintaining can be as important as creating.

The Case for Performance Art
The Case for Performance Art

Inserting live bodies into artworks unsettles the delusion that a universal perspective exists.

Marina Abramović, <em>The Artist is Present</em>
Marina Abramović, The Artist is Present

Is staring into the eyes of one of the world’s most renowned performance artists scary? Transcendent? Boring?

Vito Acconci, <em>Following Piece</em>
Vito Acconci, Following Piece

In this stalkery piece, Acconci questions space, time, and the human body on the streets of New York.

Performance Art: An Introduction
Performance Art: An Introduction

What happens when art intersects with life?

Selected Contributors