Performance Art: Actions, Gestures, Journeys

Catalog description

Performance art is the act of doing. It is not about representing, recounting, re-enacting or acting. It is an art form of direct action. Students work with the elements of time, space and the body as material to speak to cultural histories and collective contemporary experience while learning critical thinking skills and gaining knowledge about historical and contemporary performance artists. Students create performances and context-specific projects by making connections between art, life and public space. Since performance art and live art cannot be separated from the body who makes it, this course continually investigates the meaning and significance of performance art. For instance, what distinguishes an action as art? Is it different from an everyday action like brushing your teeth? What makes it different? When is a job or labor a performance? How does a person (artist or audience) know when the art begins or when it ends? All performances are documented and presented in video or still photography examples online. Select works are posted on the Live Art Platform website at the end of the semester.