Impact of Performance Art on Art Itself - Essay Example

?Performance Art Introduction Art is continually evolving. Various events and circumstances often affect it and often generate various changes and improvements. Wars, famine, poverty, drought, and other events have often had an impact on art, and have often driven artists into fits of inspiration with various masterpieces. This paper shall focus on performance artists and how they have been affected by various incidents and happenings. It shall highlight performance artists Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, and Stuart Brisley. This paper is being carried out in order to review the impact of performance art on art itself, and how these artists have impacted on the evolution and development of art in general. Each artist’s personal and professional history will first be presented, followed by a description of their significant work or performance art. Their more significant work/s shall then further be described or discussed in relation to significant incidents in their lives. Body Performance art refers to a performance which is exhibited to an audience; the performance may or may not be scripted, or it may also be carefully orchestrated or even spontaneous (Carlson, 1996, 3). In some cases, it may be performed live or taped with the performer being absent or present. It may include the situation which involves the four basic elements: time, space, performance’s body or presence in a media, and the relationship between the performer and the audience (Carlson, 1996, 4). It can happen anytime at any venue for any period. The performance of the artist exhibits the artist’s particular work of art. Three performance artists who have had a significant impact on art and on performance art shall be depicted in this essay. Marina Abramovic was born in Belgrade, and is based in New York as a Serbian performance artist (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 3). Her career first started in the 1970s and since then, she has been active in the arts for more than three decades. She has mostly been known for her performance art, exploring the relationship of the performer and the audience, the possibilities of the mind, as well as the limitations of the human body (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 5). She is considered to be the ‘grandmother of the performance art.’ In one of her earliest performances, she sought to evaluate rituals and gestures, using knives and tape recorders, jabbing the knives between her fingers and each time she cut herself, she would use a different knife (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 4). In this performance, she was able to review the mistakes of the past and her previous attempts. In this performance, she sought to understand the state of consciousness of a performer and how it was actually possible to push him into actions which he could never normally do (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 6). In her next work, she considered how to create the energy caused by extreme body pain. In this performance, she cut off her nails, toenails, and hair and tossed it into a flaming star (Richards, 2009, 6). She considered these acts of purification as against the political traditions of her past; with the star representing the communism that dominated her home country for many years. To culminate her performance, she leapt across the flames into the centre of the burning star. She however passed out from lack of oxygen, but it took a while for her audience to realize such unfortunate circumstance (Richards, 2009, 7). This incident implied how physical limits can also limit performance; in this case, her passing out limited and curtailed her performance and what she wanted to convey in her art. For the years that followed, she also attempted to test the state of consciousness and whether it could also be made part of a performance (Westcott, 2010, 18). In her performance, she took a pill used by catatonic patients. This pill caused her to go into seizures and other uncontrollable movements (Westcott, 2010. 13). She recalls that while she did not have any control over her body, her mind was clear and lucid and she could observe what was actually happening. She next swallowed another pill – this time, a pill meant for aggressive patients – and this caused her to go immobile (Westcott, 2010, 13). She recalls however, that although she was very much physically present, she had no memory of the incident (Westcott, 2010, 19). In yet another performance, she sought to explore her passive role in her performance, with the audience having a more active role. The audience was allowed to do anything they wanted to do with her – using 72 objects which could stimulate various responses and feelings from her (Westcott, 2010, 23). She expressed how she felt violated during the entire time, and how it was possible for the audience to actually kill her. Her performance also created an aggressive atmosphere and when she started to walk towards her audience after her performance, they actually started running away, avoiding any confrontation (Orrell and Balshaw, 2010, 14). She later met a fellow performance artist in the person of Uwe Laysiepen or Ulay and these artists were able to create a seamless body of work; moreover, their collaboration prompted them to explore their cultural heritages and their desire for ritual (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 14). Their individual personalities became less of a factor in these performances. They displayed extreme consciousness of each other. They formed a significant partnership in their performances; however, after ten years of performing together, they eventually decided to part ways. Ultimately, they concluded, a person is alone no matter what he or she does (Stiles, et.al., 2008, 19). Abramovic would come up with various works after Ulay and many of her works have been influenced by her past. Her latest work at the Museum of Modern Art was titled the “Artist is Present”, and in her performance she sat immobile in the museum’s atrium with various spectators taking turns sitting with her (Hurley, 2010, 25). This performance created various reactions from the audience, some feeling vulnerable and others feeling angry or just bored (Biesenbach, et.al., 2010, 17). Performance art generally came about during the period of mass movements, mostly involving struggles for civil rights and protests against the Vietnam War, including the May-June 1968 strikes in Paris, and the revolutions in Greece and Portugal (Richards, 2009, 34). The performance art which Abramovic and Ulay created evolved also the relation to political and social events in their period (Hurley, 2010, 45). They struggled with disillusionment and soon enough they portrayed how they were challenging social order through their work, at one point displaying passive resistance, and portraying provocative sexuality and gender issues (Richards, 2009, 26). Since their years apart, they have both gone on to explore other performance artworks. Abramovic chose to explore her family origins under post-war Yugoslavia (Westcott, 2010, 89). She was also stirred by ethnic nationalism in her country, where these events eventually led to violent skirmishes in her home state. Her performances have also become ascetic as her views have also become more pessimistic (Hurley, 2010, 54). She has set activities on self-punishments which often resembled flagellations of saints, and in these activities, she often hardly flinches (Hurley, 2010, 54). All in all, her themes however are constant – they are depictions of honest truths and conscious explorations of the human mind. Yoko Ono has also had a significant impact on the performance art. In the 1960s where she moved to New York, she was exposed to various figures in the art world, including Marcel Duchamp, Peggy Guggenheim, and John Cage (Johnstone, 2006, 26). In her art works, she eventually blended art and daily life and she attempted to introduce Asian culture and spirituality to the Western audience (Johnstone, 2006, 27). In her work ‘Cut Piece,’ she surrendered her body to the audience, allowing them to cut off her clothing and leaving her very much exposed. Her performance was set at a time where the Women’s Liberation Movement was gaining momentum and the Vietnam War was gaining much disdain from the public (Johnstone, 2006, 27). Her work was said to depict meanings which related to feminism, violence, as well as war protests. Yoko Ono struggled in her career and in her person due to her gender; she was not perceived seriously by her colleagues, and this was exacerbated by the fact that sexism was very much the norm in her home country (Johnstone, 2006, 33). Being an Asian did not help matters in any way. These elements sought to discourage her and her art and her relationship with John Lennon made situations even worse. The Second World War in Japan prompted Yoko Ono to play imaginative games, games which sought to destroy barriers and thinking, of living, and of art production (Frank, 2009, 579). The Second World War provided her with the consciousness of what was wrong and right in terms of self and society. The freedom she and her family were able to gain upon their arrival in the United States provided the chance for her to explore it and possibly investigate its various possibilities (Johnstone, 2006, 56). The Second World War impacted on Yoko Ono’s art in the sense that she yearned for optimistic activities, mostly those involving good feelings and luck. Wishing and hoping often comes from devastating events which cause individuals to wish an improvement because in the end, there may be no possible means for individuals to change their lives (Frank, 2009, 578). Her performance art came from her negative experiences and it is under this consideration that the concept of destruction art was established. Destruction art is said to depict the trials of survivors, or their attempts at understanding and reconciling with their past demons (Frank, 2009, 580). Yoko Ono considers physical and conceptual destruction in her work, however, she also considers themes which relate to healing, and the connection and communication between people and imagination. Yoko Ono’s art relates to her experiences and views regarding chaos after World War II and the Cold War aftermath (Frank, 2009, 579). Her art exemplifies how international conflicts often cause the world to be restructured, including its economy, educational system, as well as its industry. These elements are often changed in order to adjust to the demands and causes of conflict. Such chaos and conflict do not impact the physical form of nations, but it seems to affect their culture and social systems (Frank, 2009, 579). It leads people to use various forms of adaptation through various media, including art. Yoko Ono translated her experiences in Japan into performance artworks, and these artworks indicate that it is possible to create relevant art pieces from destructive acts and events (Frank, 2009, 579). Yoko Ono acts as a survivor in her art and by assessing the causes and means of destruction and survival, she was able to create ways in dealing with her chaotic experiences in Japan. Yoko Ono’s approach to her art is one of dynamism, intending the audience to have some form of participation or collaboration with her work (Hallmark, 2007, 23). She also acknowledged that art is open to various outcomes, depending on the spectator’s imagination. This makes her approach – wish and hope – accurate descriptions of her work and the events she encountered in her life (Hallmark, 2007, 26). She has sought to establish actions and instructions in order to create art amidst destruction. She has also accepted the participation of the audience in turning violent public performances into more intimate contemplations or the realms of mental freedom (Johnstone, 2006, 18). This mental freedom is a significant part of her destruction art and it can be seen in her artworks which directly relate to the violence and destruction which was seen in the Second World War. It is a freedom which seeks to open the minds of participants to new and often impossible concepts and options (Frank, 2009, 580). Yoko Ono’s performance art establishes connections between the audience and the artists’ experiences; and in the end, it also supports liberation. Although she did not experience World War II in Japan, she gained consciousness in post WWII Japan where chaos and confusion reigned (Frank, 2009, 580). As a destruction artist and a survivor, she was able to localize the experience and recapture the conditions of their pain. Her artwork also served to educate the people. The artists’ use of their bodies became avenues for understanding and recreating vulnerabilities, and these performances have allowed society to learn and to somehow implement changes in their societal activities (Frank, 2009, 581). Stuart Brisley is yet another performance artist who has had a significant impact on performance art and on art in general. He was born in Surrey, England, and is one of those artists who have had a major impact on the British performance art genre (Kaye, 1996, 33). He is considered as the godfather of British performance art and a major figure in experimentation and political discussions on the visual arts, including performance art, painting, sculpting, writing and films (Kaye, 1996, 42). He has had a major impact on Young British Artists, especially in his radical performances and in his development and performance art (Lewinski, 1987, 24). Western capitalism has had a significant impact on the development of Brisley’s performance art. At the very centre of his diverse work is the exploration of the important qualities of being human. In the process, he has managed to challenge his body in terms of its physical, psychological and emotional elements (Ran, 2009, 33). He depicted his body as vulnerable and exposed, very much in struggle, and this depiction established how the human body is vulnerable to bureaucratic and state power. He experienced the Marxist counter-cultural politics during the 1960s, and as a result, he decided that democratic ideals were to be the foundation of his relationship with his audience (Meats, 2006, 17). He achieved much notoriety for his stark and disturbing physical performances. He also built his imaginary institution and from 1979 to 1986 he established his Georgiana Collection in collaboration with the local community, mostly with the homeless people who inhabited the streets where he lived (Meats, 2006, 11). Through his performance art, he engaged the audience in a dialogue, debate and some form of action or reaction – seeking reprieve from social conventions (Meats, 2006, 9). His performance art has evaluated politics and power, including the symbolic approaches to power, often depicted by the media. Marxist capitalism in the 1960s also prompted Brisley to strain against social and economic capitalist conventions including other norms (Meats, 2006, 7). His motivations in his performance art have not changed in any way and his motivations have always been on the production of art which is rich in metaphor and a wide range of expressions which can morbidly portray the capitalist culture. Brisley’s performance art seems to be a struggle against capitalism and the ordinary self. It is about gaining an identity with his audience, one which is transitory and may come and then fade away (Kaye, 1996, 35). It may also be difficult to recapture. He was not keen on forming an intimate relationship with the audience as his goal on the other hand was to manifest the social structures within them (Williams, 2010). Various social events impacted his performance art and he became active in the community supporting the Artists’ Union in London and the Hornsey sit-in in 1968 (Ran, 2009, 33). He also assisted mining communities and homeless people. And although these were not performance artworks, these activities implied much about his influences and socio-political interests (Ran, 2009, 38). His artworks are very much a testament to his political and social issues, as he often presented critiques of norms and mores in society while also attempting to cross the boundaries between the audience and the galleries. He often provided uncomfortable performances which were also considered as radical “action art” (Williams, 2010). One of the first pieces of performance art he depicted was ‘And for today...nothing’ (Williams, 2010). This was shown in 1972 and it depicted a darkened gallery bathroom which was surrounded by maggots and rotting offal; he lay partially immersed in black water (Williams, 2010). He reprised his work in 1973 and this time it became also the short film titled ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ (Works Makes Free); these are the words placed in many Nazi concentration camps (Williams, 2010). This film rejected the idea depicted in the words and the film became a significant objection to the representations and the practice of racial genocide in Germany during the Second World War. Conclusion Based on the above discussion, performance artists were influenced by various events in their lives. Abramovic was impacted by the war which tore down her country. Yoko Ono was also affected by the impact of the Second World War on her home country Japan. And Stuart Brisley was affected by the Marxist ideals and practices in the 1960s. These were events and circumstances which affected their artwork and specifically, their performance art. Their performance art depicted scenes which showed the struggle of the human mind and body against violence, pain, social inequalities, gender inequalities, economic disparities, capitalism, and socio-political norms. The scenes depicted in their performance art often explore uncomfortable themes; as a result, the artworks present shocking images to the audience, sometimes repelling them at other times enticing them, but always opening room for discussion. In many instances, discussion on issues of the past has been considered taboo and has often been curtailed, but the performance artists have managed to open up the debates and discussions on these issues and controversial subject matters. References Biesenbach, Klaus, Abramovic, Marina, and Museum of Modern Art. 2010. Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present. New York: The Museum of Modern Art. Carlson, Marvin. 1996. Performance: A Critical Introduction. London and New York: Routledge Frank, Whitney. 2009. Instructions for Destruction: Yoko Ono's Performance Art. Intersections 10, no. 1: 571-607. Hallmark, Kara. 2007. Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists. New York: Greenwood Publishing Group. Hurley, Clare. 2010. The “Modern” experience of art: Abramovic and Kentridge at MoMA. WSWS. http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/sep2010/moma-s15.shtml (accessed 02 June 2012). Johnstone, Nick. 2006. Yoko Ono. New York: Omnibus Press. Kaye, Nick. 1996. Art Into Theatre: Performance Interviews and Documents. London: Routledge. Lewinski, Jorge. 1987. Portrait of the artist: twenty five years of British art. New York: Carcanet Meats, Sandrine. 2006. Stuart Brisley: Works 1958-2006. London: England & Company. Orrell, Paula. and Balshaw, Maria. 2010. Marina Abramovic + the Future of Performance Art. New York: Prestel, Jan 20, 2010 Ran, Faye. 2009. A History of Installation Art and the Development of New Art Forms: Technology and the Hermeneutics of Time and Space in Modern and Postmodern Art from Cubism to Installation. London: Peter Lang. Richards, Mary. 2009. Marina Abramovic. London: Taylor & Francis. Stiles, Kristine., Biesenbach, Klaus, and Iles, Chrissie. 2008. Marina Abramovic. London: Phaidon. Westcott, James. 2010. When Marina Abramovic Dies: A Biography. London: Routledge. Williams, Sam. 2010. Stuart Brisley: Politics & the Performance Artist. Aesthetic Magazine. http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/stuart-brisley (accessed 02 June 2012). Read More