What is performance art?

In the modern art landscape, the performance art an increasingly central role, be it with large international artbiennals or in intimate gallery or on small stages as well as in public space.

Joseph Beuys has performed or carried out action art

For Cindy Sherman already a performance if she , , made up and put in pose

Marina Abramović holds a performance for 721 hours and (probably therefore) demands that performance art as a mental work must be protected beyond the end of performance ...

Even many artists who do not expressly classify as performance artists keep talking to performance campaigns: Bruce Nauman struggles in his "Walk with Contrapposto" through a narrow plywood course in 1969 before he had the recipient with precisely this action "Performance Corridor"

Natias Peter Günther Rudolpho Neutert not only writes poems and essays, but also likes to list himself as a one-human theater ...

All art, all performance, with or without "unnecessary props", with or without a recognizable sense, performance art is very happy to rely on an increased performance of the imagination.

What is performance art? A simple explanation

Performance Art has developed into one of the most dynamic forms of contemporary art. This art form is known for its ability to dissolve the traditional boundaries between the artist and the audience and is often at the center of intensive discussions.

The importance of this medium is difficult to bring to a single denominator, as it includes a variety of forms of expression and intentions. However, the latest news and events offer us valuable insights to develop a deep understanding of this art style.

Performance art, often referred to in German as "action art" , is an art form in which the artist's performance or action itself represents the work of art. In contrast to more traditional art forms such as painting or sculpture, in which the work of art is a physical object, the performance is fleeting and fleeting.

When it comes to the theory of art, that is, what is actually performance art and how it is defined by art scientists, the definition becomes more granular and more complex:

Performance art: an official definition

The art scientists have dealt with the performance art for many years (for a good 50 years, as long as the development is running), and they have successfully defined performance art :

Performance is called a situation -related, acting and transient (ephemere) artistic performance of a performer or a performance group.

The art form questions the separability of artist and work as well as the form of goods of traditional works of art (source: Wikipedia); Of course, there are many other, more complicated and uncomplicated definitions in art -scientific literature, but here the focus was on general accessibility).

So what does the definition tell us, piece by piece:

1. Artistic performance

What that is is not defined in more detail; So it depends on who can assess whether it is an artistic performance. In a free democratic society with fundamental rights, the guiding principle of which is the autonomy of the individual subject, the decision about it is of course the artist himself.

If someone stands out and announces that he would now perform an artistic performance, an artistic performance follows.

Even more natural to the resulting “IST-DAS-Kunst-Oder-Kann-Das-Weg” debate (which it does not harm it if they are almost constantly called in the general public):

• What art is, determined in a free country that makes art.
• What a car is, determines in a free country that produces the car.
• What is chocolate is determined in a free country the one that produces the chocolate.

Since people with different tastes live in a free society, everyone does not necessarily taste what is produced as a chocolate. The chocolate with chilli still like quite a few people, but the chocolate with horseradish hardly likes a person; It is still chocolate.

Since people with different risk and environmental responsibility live in a free society, not every huge heavy dirty sling with a top speed of 230 km/h considers suitable city cars. The high seat can help the 1.70 m-large Micky Mega better view, but the drivers of such a stinking primeval vehicle vehicle also have a rather nonsensical manner of fine dust contamination and constipation of our cities; It's still a car.

Since people with different opinions live in a free society, not everyone likes every work of art. If a performance artist plants 7,000 oaks, it improves the air if he includes Nazi symbols in a performance, it could already put the wrong people on the wrong ideas; It is still art.

To where?

When the chocolatier gives horseradish in the chocolate, it testifies its bad taste, but does not hurt anyone (only in the heart how you can use such a wonderful product). When he puts Botox in the chocolate to make a career with this anti-fold chocolate, the worse taste and perverse stupidity of the chocolatier testifies, and the strong poison botulinum toxin (nothing else is botox) can really hurt, right down to death.

If a car producer rarely puts environmental toxic traffic obstacles on the street, city dies may only die a little earlier, just because the car drives past nobody falls around. In the hands of the suboptimal urban jurisdiction, however, in the hands of the "The-Fast-and-the-Furious" films, which is not very hopeful by bank director Walkpaul, becomes a deadly floor at the latest and immediately causes death.

If swastika and Hitler salute are shown in a performance, this will definitely have potential for a bad insult to hurt someone. When an artist sprays a beautiful graffiti on the turrets between the hunter fence, it actually hurts someone, even if only the soul and property of the citizens who cannot live with turrets without a heal Disney alpine landscape-but also on Disney alpine landscapes or uninjured souls you have a right in a free country.

Whether chocolate, car, art - free practice or production can obviously come into conflict with other positions and values ​​of our society. When it comes to easier conflicts, these are clarified by media reporting ("today in the XY magazine: the most disgusting chocolates in the world") or in front of the civil courts (property owners are suing artists because newly planted trees block the view).

The really serious conflicts are usually regulated by the legislator in such a way that the public prosecutor's office is investigating. The non-hopeful offspring goes to prison when he enables innocent people, the hopeful graffiti artist is at least sentenced to pay the expert removal of graffiti from the turrets; Because of the Nazi symbols in performance, the public prosecutor has determined and the investigation has been set because in this case action was covered by freedom of art-the artist Jonathan Meese is long and sufficiently known that he is opponent of all ideologies and definitely not a Nazi.

But one thing remains: No matter whether media scolding, civil court proceedings or prison are the result - chocolate, car and art remain in a free country chocolate, car and art, because the actors have defined it that way.

If someone defines otherwise than the actor, it is no longer a free country, but a dictatorship; And since we definitely never want to live again in one, performance artists can determine when a performance is performance art.

2. A performer or a performance group

First of all, logically clear. Someone has to do it, and the one who does it/who do it is just the performer or the performance group.

But it can also be more difficult: if the poodle of the performer performs, it could be purely theory theory a performance of the performer using poodle or a performance of the poodle. The latter only if the assessor believes that animals have their own personality and would be capable of artistic performances.

The question of your own personality of animals, and the associated own rights of animals, from the right to species-appropriate attitude right to pain and pain-free death to the fundamental right to life or concession of your own consciousness, the ability to think yourself, is particularly in discussion.

The more research is carried out, and the closer the civilization/living environment of the researcher has already realized that man is not the navel of the world (although Western civilization is definitely not one of the most progressive in this regard), the more this question is decided in favor of the animals.

Then the fundamental blurring still remains that the assessor is man. And when an animal willingly delivered an artistic performance, no researcher may decide at all, although the nurses are certain that Schimpanse Boon Mee ( www.n-tv.de/wissen/wenn-tiere-malen-article5395041.html ) thought something when painting.

Not so easy to define everything if we are still a bit away from demonstrations for the freedom of art of pawns - which at the moment does not say much, because in some civilized societies, especially in the course of surrounding migration movements, a powerful shift to the right is indicated and experience has shown more power to ensure that demonstrations for every freedom move far ...

In addition: are Chiara Schimmerlos, Kevin Knödelsang, Pauline Presswurst and Ruben out of performance artist, and their poor to annoying performances are art at a casting show?

A. Yes, of course, we have already clarified who says that he makes art is an artist. And in general, "everyone is an artist", said the performance artist Joseph Beuys, of all things. In addition: It is precisely this to give this narcissism apprentices used as a program-filling joke figures that they can comfort themselves after leaving the fact that they have made at least 5 minutes of art in front of an audience (they already have the famous 15 minutes of famous?

B. no. The English "performing" also stands for "carrying out" (a surgical intervention), "exercise/perceive" (a function) and other completely art -free activities; You could ask some self -proclaimed “performers” whether they were actually up to a surgical intervention on the hearing of the audience or were aware of their function as a break clown.

Beuys also said not only "Everyone is an artist" , but also likes to be completely released from the context:

Everyone is an artist. I don't say anything about the quality. I only say something about the basic possibility that is available in every person [...] I explain that as the artistic, and that is my concept of art. "

( Artist portrait-Joseph Beuys )-He wanted to ask all artists to evaluate the problems of a modern society and to participate in their solution, and never ask all people to do bad art.

Andy Warhol's sentence on the "15 minutes of fame" is usually false: With the saying " In The Future Everyone Will Be World-Famous for 15 Minutes" ( "In the future everyone will be world fame for 15 minutes" ) Warhol did not want to call for "famousness for anyone who claims this".

On the contrary, he wanted to recognize the power of the media, which in his time (the quote is from 1968) instead of gallery owners and curators, art scientists and the artist community, despite often rather dubious competence, to whom fame was attributed.

That was also the reason why Warhol called his factory groupies (often called employees in his "art factory") "superstars"-in the future, a mere 15 minutes were the time that remained for fame because the media simply produced too many "stars".

Just choose it, and otherwise it is not quite as easy as usual:

Whether a performance must be listed by a (her) performer is one of the very big issues of performance art.

Since performance artist Marina Abramović has resumed legendary performance of former performance artists and, as a result of these re-performances, has formulated the claim that a performance has an artistic value regardless of its performer, the temporal and personal bound of a work of performance is not yet decided that the discussion has not yet been decided.

3. Situation -related

Definition situation?

According to www.duden.de/rechtschreit/s situation, the situation includes the conditions/circumstances in which someone is instantly, that is, the current situation of a person; Or the conditions/circumstances that characterize a general state, i.e. the general situation.

Huh? Situation-related does the artist act on a performance performance when he acts in relation to the situation in which he is located, or in relation to the location in which the world is located?

How should he act differently? Even if the artist announces that he is steeped in himself and far from this world-he is still in his body and in this world, Fakir like the trance artist.

So: situation is always a performance when it takes place in this world; And that also does not change the longer definition in de.wikipedia.org/wiki/s situation , according to which a situation refers to a situation or position, the bound to circumstances or circumstances, but also the nature and at the same time effectiveness of a psychologically (purely mentally) defined region or a area.

In fact, this definition naturally changes everything because the performance no longer has to be related to the real situation in which artists and world are located, but the situation that the artist thinks. What does not change much for the art viewer, the question: "What did the artist think?" is as old as the art of the world.

It is difficult to answer how and whether a situation phobia, i.e. a pathological fear in certain situations, can affect the presentation of the definition features of performance (it is still a performance if the artist runs away in between - or even before the start - because a few faces in the audience are annoyed, etc.).

4.

Exactly: Is it a performance at all if the artist does not act in a situation, but rather, like Marina Abramović in her performance "512 Hours" (2014, Serpentine Galleries, London)?

Probably already, logically corresponds to this question with the point "artistic performance". A similar concept of action as in criminal law, by doing yourself, can also be punished here by means of inactivity, which can also be punished (or artistically) under certain conditions.

Exactly these requirements bring the action into play, sometimes in criminal law in the "reverse form" of an obligation to act as in the "failure to assume assistance" or in the form of an early action, if, for example, For example, someone intentionally drives up to put the courage for the undisclosed, ignite, strike, strike or put together (insult, arson, assault, homicide, murder).

It is not much different in art, Marina Abramović made her 512 hours of sit still after certain preparations in a certain environment; If she had passed out for 512 hours or moved to the reflex "giggling" by tickling, hardly anyone would have classified it as art, but rather the question of the criminal liability of those who failed to call an ambulance or to prevent the tickling from the tickle.

5. Valating (Ephemer)

First of all, it is clear: even if 30-hour performance such as the live performance "The Long Now" and 168-hour performances such as "approximation" no longer surprised or 8760-hour performances such as "Life in the Leekkasten" took place a few decades ago-the matter (performance) has an end at some point, even if an artist has an end at some point, even if an artist has his life for long-term performance Defined, then the matter has come to an end when the artist ends. But is long in, many performance artists do not do it under three-digit hourly quotas; And the performance will also be nice for a long time if you simply explain the whole exhibition on long-term performance like Dado.

• "The Long Now" : March 28 to March 29, 2016, 6:00 p.m. until midnight, Berlin power plant
• "Approximation" : October 29th. until November 1st, 2015, Haus der Hungarian Culture Berlin
• "Life in the showcase" : Manon, 1975/76, Pablo Stähli Gallery, Zurich
• Dado : 17.10. - October 27, 2013, Kuntraum Teiggi Kriens, Switzerland

On the other hand, all of these performances is already blown up when Ephemer stands on an equal footing next to the "fleeting": The Ephemeron collector's object (from the Greek) becomes a collector's object that is only intended for a one -off and very short use; The mayfly from the genus of Ephemera because it only lives one day (and the Norwegian women's pop band Ephemera has given itself this name in exaggerated pessimism, from 1996 to 2004 it was certain that according to her website "Ephemera is here to stay" ).

In addition: If a performance artist can revive the performance of other artists or actually performs again (the copyright holder can never prevent this in all places in the world, but at most demand compensation in retrospect), the end of a performance to mere interruption and the performance from the Ephemeron to the "Aeternicon" , to eternal art becomes eternal art.

Exactly this discussion initiated the Marina Abramović already mentioned under 2. In 2005 in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum New York, the "Seven Easy Pieces" with re -performance by long past performances. In her newly founded "Marina Abramović Institute" (May), she also plans to create a "living archive" of historical performances through reproductions in addition to the development of new performance art.

6. Art form questions the separability of artist and work

See above 2. and 5th, no longer necessarily denied today

However, if the "iron basic rule" falls that a performance is bound to the person of the performer/performer and cannot be repeated, performance with repeatability and re -performance could "drop" to the stadium of arbitrariness. Because then it would no longer be mandatory that the re-performance of a performance artist must be carried out.

Simone Fortis "Huddle" from 1961, the groundbreaking dance for the development of performance art and the possibly neck-punching dance for the participants of this cuddly heap, instead of boring office gymnastics? Why not, a few New Yorkers rehearsed at the high line in 2012, what it looked like, you can look at here:

7. Art form questions the shape of traditional works of art

"Questioned" has long been a long time ago and has now been decided: art no longer has to manifest itself in an object since the first performers began to perform in the 1960s and the first concept artists declared the pure concept into art at about the same time.

Actually even much earlier, when the first Dadaists presented the first sound poems in very special costumes in 1916, which were devised for the performances and the tapped sound painting delicacies were certainly not suitable as merchandise, even if someone had come up with such an idea.

This was what it looked like: the legs in a column circuit made of blue -gloss cardboard, the slim reached to the hip, so that the carrier looked like an obelisk. Above it was a huge coat collar, covered with scarlet fever on the inside and with gold on the outside, was held together on the neck so that it could be moved like a wing by lifting and lowering the elbows. In addition, a cylinder-like high white-blue striped shaman hat.

And so that sounded about:

Jolifanto Bambla o Falli Bambla
Grossiga M'Pfa Habla Horem
Egiga Goramen
Higo Bloiko russula
hollaka hollala
club
blago
bungo bungo
bosso fataka
üü ü ü ü ü ü ü
ü ü ülobo
hej tatta gorem
eschige zuchige
ssubudu Uluw Ssubudu
Tumba Ba-Zun
Kusagauma
BA- Um

(Karawane, by Hugo Ball 1917, one of the few recorded sound poems)

When is washing out now and when is it washing?

If you go to the most common definition of performance art according to the individually considered characteristics, washes off "good chances of working work".

Washing is situation -related: The fact that man with the huge mountain of dirty dishes in front of the nose greets the conditions/circumstances in which he is currently in (the situation) is not challenged in the definition. This person acts situation -related, hopefully, otherwise the dishes start to stink (could still be a performance, but only with some brimborium, not just let it stink).

Washing off is an action -emphasized, hopefully again, the dishes are not cleaned by itself and people still have a lot to do afterwards.

Washing is fleeting because the clean dishes are no longer the dirty dishes. And washing is Ephemer because nobody will make it so much effort to improve the same dirty dishes to exactly the same huge mountain around the sink.

Washing regularly questions the separability of artists and work; Always from the one who has just been selected to do the washing up and has no desire.

And washing is questioned because this person has never been able to resell the washing up to his regret.

However, the dishes do not yet question the shape of a traditional work of art, it only becomes one when the last two characteristics of the definition have been met: washing as an artistic performance of a performer or a performance group.

However, since, as explained above, performers or performance group itself determine that and what they perform, it is one of the easier tasks of this world to tackle washing as a performance artist and to turn washing out of washing out ...

Use nothing scientifically, only well for self-determined thinking

If you now believe that with the characteristics of the most common definition, you can have the performance art under control and happily come about to transform every everyday activity into art-life could be more fun, but you will not necessarily become a recognized artist.

The whole definition of performance art above has forgotten to mention that art performance is always dependent on the fact that the art viewers agree and follow the definition of art. When washing up, they could already lack the art viewers. Although the performance would probably have to remain art, if nobody comes to watch, it would have to be free to celebrate from now on from now washing up as a performance art.

If viewers are present, it could happen that they do not admire their art exercise, but rather without every thought of art, they are happy that they have already taken over the washing up ... this is a situational dissonance: they "do art", and the rest of the team drinks wine and "power" and is happy to have found the same stupid for washing up again.

You could feel no less dissonance if you talk to art scientists about the definition of performance art. If an art scientist z. B. writes: "Performance art always exists when an artist acts in front of viewers and says that these actions are art, no matter how often he repeats the performance", they can agree to the opposite or other opinion (which the art scientist will hardly take seriously if it comes from a non-art scientist).

Can't he do enough to do with other art scientists: Experts in concept art report and turn that this definition clearly results in works of art in concept art, theater scientists see a play, which also makes them right if they are also right if an artistic event must never be repeated in the same way (whereas the supporters of the reconcilability and performance for eternity have a lot to say).

The definition of performance art can collide with the definition of body art, happening and fluxus, there are overlaps with action art and neo-dadaism ; However, which urgently want to differentiate themselves, even if some of their live art performances , action art spectacles , interventions or manouvre meet a close definition of performance art.

The art scientist therefore does not simply write "Performance art if ...", but is devoted to the limitation of performance on a few hundred pages, e.g. B. in the works:

Marvin Carlson: Performance: a critical introduction

Erika Fischer-Lichte: aesthetics of the performative. Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt am Main 2004, ISBN 3-518-12373-4, 300 pages

So there are many definitions of performance art-just no definitive ( www.zeit.de/2012/11/ exhibition-zkm-karlsruhe/ page-2); In this sense, a lot of fun with your next - active or passive - performance.

The above-mentioned piece by piece by one of the definitions of the performance art could give you completely different suggestions: you can think yourself, always, can break down any scientific definition into your individual parts.

In art and in other areas of life in which someone wants to show them that you have to do something like that, because the currently applicable scientific definition does not leave any other options open ...

And if you have made a funny way in mind about the concrete example, because everyone now has a dishwasher, you could generally question your attitude to the consumer world.

Because there is actually no reason to get the mostly limited living space with a large device that used aggressive chemistry (have you ever smelled your dishwasher tabs?) And not inconsiderable use of energy (VA for intensive rins are carried out) everyday work- while the normal washing up in the smaller household without any art or other problem with water and less aggressive dishwashing can be done by hand (soak 95 %).

If you are not like that on the subject: Many articles in the Kunstplaza magazine Regen to think and/or become creative.

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