artwork by Jaina Cipriano
Essay inspired by the book Performance in Contemporary Art by author Catherine Wood.
In order to understand performance art, we must identify what differentiates the artform from straight theatrical performance as well as study the origins of the craft. Performance art remains a unique, young mode of expression based largely on conveying concepts rather than direct narratives. In other words, performance art does not have a script or linear progression but rather steeped in communication through body language and staged interactions with audio, handmade or improvised props, and custom-designed wardrobe. With origin, arguably the inventor of performance art was the fluxus artist Joseph Beuys, especially with his mainstream performance in 1974 of I Like America and America Likes Me which entailed him being isolated at René Block Gallery with a wild coyote for three days equipped with nothing more than a felt and cane. Joseph tried to communicate with the coyote by wrapping himself up like a cloaked shepherd, gesturing with his cane, and throwing his leather gloves. The coyote was mostly docile but sometimes aggressive at times by biting at Joseph’s wrapped felt. Joseph’s Beuys’ performance of I Like America and America Likes Me remains widely regarded as the first mainstream execution of performance art. If we were to argue performance art was founded in 1974, then such an analysis would clearly indicate the process as one of the youngest artforms available to artists today, one which definitely has not been fully explored or developed.
artwork by Joseph Beuys
Through today’s methods of expression, some artists are practicing performance art and do not even realize so. Most people think of performance art as a staged presentation in a gallery or artistic setting, but the artform can also be identified and expressed through photography, film, and projections. There are four particular artists in the Aedra Fine Arts Artist Feature Catalogue who exemplify the form of performance art, even if they don’t identify themselves as performance artists. Jaina Cipriano, Van O (Ivan Isaev), Anastasiia Marinich, and Amy Kaluzhny. Each one of these performance artists works in a different method. Jaina Cipriano constructs elaborate handcrafted sets and props with staged, conceptual scenes to photograph, usually using herself as an actor for interaction. Van O constructs elaborate artistic installations or on-screen graphics to interact with actors in photography. Anastasiia Marinich is a filmmaker who films actors engaged in silent interactions with environments, props, and custom wardrobe. Amy Kaluzhny creates elaborate pre-filmed projections of hired dancers and actors who interact with her own murals and paintings to convey concepts to a live audience in a gallery setting.
artwork by Amy Kaluzhny
Why does performance art matter? Because the artform remains inherently figurative in nature as well as requiring an interaction with either props, set design, creatures, nature, environments, or other actors, performance art in essence exemplifies social discourse. In comparison, non-objective abstract painting for example only contains elements of surface, paint, and composition. Anyone who claims otherwise could be described as engaged in wishful thinking. We may try to associate non-objective art with a reference in order to create dialogue, but purists and academics would throw their arms up in the air in disgust. In other words, because performance art remains inherently saturated in social discourse there remains more to write and talk about, the art could be described as generally more engaging and increasingly conceptual compared to other forms of art.
artwork by Anastasiia Marinich
Performance art cannot be generally regarded as superior to a narrative-based theatrical performance, just a different method of expression. However, performance art offers elements and attributes which theatrical performance does not, such as metaphor, symbolism, custom props and wardrobe to communicate a direct concept, emphasis on body language, and sometimes reliance on non-verbal audio and music to express an idea based on mood and emotions. Joseph Beuys believed art remains a powerful force, making us formidable beings because artforms connect us to our emotions, making each artist a shaman with spiritual or magical powers. Whether such an interpretation should be taken literally or metaphorically would be up to the reader, but the point would be performance art engages us on a deeper level of understanding of the human condition beyond just aesthetics and form, which a vast majority of artforms rely upon to communicate.
artwork by Van O (Ivan Isaev)
Not everyone can be a performance artist as the artform can be one of the most demanding, labor intensive, dangerous, and possibly even expensive modes of expression. Between costume and set design, crafting audio, recruiting or hiring actors and possibly a film crew, constructing elaborate installations to engage with, or identifying the right scene and / or method of acting to communicate concepts could be regarded as a daunting task. Not all performance art needs to be elaborate, but with the visual competition of cheap digital eye-candy such as artificial intelligence created content flooding people’s attention spans, social media platforms overflowing with artistic content, and far more artists and content creators than ever before, the performance artist may sometimes have to complete content with high production values in order to stand out against the noise of the competition.
artwork by Jaina Cipriano
Finally, performance art offers integrative methods which are very much needed to advance the arts. From incorporating costume and set design, installation, film, photography, video art, and projections - performance art offers a wide array of potential for modes of expression. Through experimentation and a thoughtful approach, the aspiring performing artist can tap into an untapped audience yearning for originality and art rich in constructing and deconstructing social notions and interpretations of contemporary discourse, environments, institutions, and fulfilling the ‘prophecy’ of post-structuralism by creating new meaning and methods of thinking and expression out of exhausted systems of thought and philosophy.
artwork by Van O (Ivan Isaev)
artwork by Amy Kaluzhny