Performance art is a live performance that combines elements from many branches of art. A performance artist typically uses literature, the visual arts, popular culture, music, dance, and theater, as well as video, slides, and computer-generated images. A performance can consist of one person or several and may take place anywhere and last for any length of time. Performance art often uses the performer’s body as the primary art medium. The performance may be autobiographical or make a political statement, especially of a radical nature. It often merges art with daily activities.
Performance art grew out of avant-garde (experimental) art movements of the early 1900’s, particularly Dada and Futurism and the work of French artist Marcel Duchamp. From the 1940’s through the 1960’s, these international movements were linked with such American movements as Abstract Expressionism, Minimalism, Pop Art, and Conceptual Art. Artists who pioneered the performance movement in America include composer John Cage, painter and sculptor Allan Kaprow, and sculptor Claes Oldenburg. During the 1960’s, all three artists created a form of performance art called happenings. Happenings combined sound and visual material in random ways, often with the audience participating.
During the late 1900’s, performance art became more concerned with social and political issues, such as feminism or AIDS awareness. Leading performance artists include Laurie Anderson, Spalding Gray, Holly Hughes, and Carolee Schneemann.
See also Video art .
