SUMMARY

 

We are dealing here with an artist’s personal take on what is performance art, through both a theoretical and a practical perspective but on a personal note.

We see the authors point of view as to how performance artists regard, use and portray their body, their relation to other artists and their social conduct.

We have examples through personal experience, real or in dreams (!!) of how performance artists view time, how they archive their work (according to the author, BADLY) and interview excerpts.

All very concise and engaging.

So “summary”???

Hell NO! (pardon my french!). This is a paper that should be read from start to finish! For one, it is actually interesting on a more everyday level and also it is one of the few that are so easy to read and enjoy. The style of writing is lovely and the format nice and clear. And to me it spoke on a very personal level that I could realy relate to…

So I will skip ahead to the quotes since there are a few that give a clear image of the personality and content of the paper!

 

QUOTES

“…cut me some extra slack: I am a contradictory vato, and so are most performance artist I know”  –-> I actually loved this quote because inner (and outer actually) conflict- of ideas, emotions, wants, needs etc- is the story of my life… Does that make me a (potential) performance artist?????? HAHA 🙂

 

“We theorize…. different from …academic theorists. They have binoculars; we have radars.”  –> It is very interesting to read that from someone else because it is something I have had to deal with for a very long time…  The way I interpret it academics see, explain, analyze; performance artists sense/feel,show, act.

 

“We are what others aren’t, we say what others don’t and we occupy cultural spaces that are often overlooked or dismissed. Because of this, our multiple communities are composed of esthetic, political, ethnic and gender rejects.”  –> It really says it all on its own… The feeling of not quite fitting in… And isn’t that something that the same society we (yes I’ll throw myself in there) don’t quite fit in, needs in order to define the boundaries of “normal”?

And in relation I add:

“It is a lonely and largely misunderstood journey, but most performance artists…love it”  –> the notion of being different, the illusion perhaps of being unique!

 

“In the act of crossing a border, we find temporary emancipation.” –> Well this I found extremely interesting since my last paper was on whether or not emancipation can be achieved thorugh transgression! It is an issue that has is really bugging me lately…

 

“Though we treasure our bodies, we don’t mind constantly putting them at risk.”  –> Pain is a reminder that we are still alive 😉 And taking a risk and overcoming it is simply exhilarating!!!

 

 

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