PERFORMANCE ART

Performance Art started in the United States in the 1960's, although there were earlier precedents for it. It originally used to refare to a live artistic event that included musicians, film makers and poets in addition to visual artists. The German Bauhaus which was founded in 1919, included a theater workshop to investigate relationships between light, space and sound. Performance Art later became a global term by 1970 and it's definition became a bit more specific. Performance Art now took on the meaning of the fact that it was live and it was art, not theater. It was art that could not be traded as a commodity. Artists saw and still see this movement as a way of taking their art directly to the public and therefor eliminating the need for galleries, agents, and other capitalist aspects. Body art also became popular in the 1970's which has begun since the 1960's. Body art meant that a person's flesh was used as a canvas, or it could have also been painting someone's flesh and having them writhe on a canvas. Technology media then started to be incorporated into pieces in the 1980's to create a new type of performance art which is still being vastly used nowadays by simply combining imagination and technology. 

Pride Model Jovana Petrov being painted by EMMA HACK against a backdrop of gold and red FLorence Broadhurst wallpaper (photographed by Michael Marchall).

Tampa - Mireille Astore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhP9n6WvVfQ

Kinetic Rain - World's largest kinetic art sculpture at Changi Airport Terminal 1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=5MXwJpKToEY

The Alchemy of Light - a dandypunk.

References:

Performance Art - Art History Basics on Performance Art - 1960s-Present. 2013. Performance Art - Art History Basics on Performance Art - 1960s-Present. [ONLINE] Available at:http://arthistory.about.com/cs/arthistory10one/a/performance.htm. [Accessed 15 May 2013].

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10 Contemporary Performance Artists You Should Know – Flavorwire. 2013.10 Contemporary Performance Artists You Should Know – Flavorwire. [ONLINE] Available at: http://flavorwire.com/227915/10-contemporary-performance-artists-you-should-know/10. [Accessed 15 May 2013].

Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun. 2013. Cookies must be enabled | Herald Sun. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/gallery-e6frf7jo-1225767330730?page=3. [Accessed 15 May 2013].