Performance Art post 6

 

Performance art, an introduction

1) "Throughout the mid-20th century, performance has been closely tied to the search for alternatives to established art forms, which many artists felt had become fetishized as objects of economic and cultural value."

This makes a lot of sense because many art forms become elite, sometimes unattainable objects because of the value attached to them, and therefore become inaccessible to people of lower economic means, performance art  has a way of equalizing in a way, when it is done publicly and for free, for anyone in the space to experience,

2) "Whereas painting and sculpture relied on expressive form and content to convey meaning, performance art forced viewers to engage with a real person who could feel cold and hunger, fear and pain, excitement and embarrassment—just like them."

This quote resonates with me because it is so true that performance art is so unique in the way it makes you confront  another humans experience or emotions in a way that cannot happen with an inanimate object and so it reaches us on another plane in addition to the artistic expression, it becomes more personal. 

1)"Most immediately, “Cut Piece” is a concrete enactment of the striptease that men are said to perform in their heads when they see an attractive woman. It weaponizes the male gaze. Women participate in the cutting, but that’s because it’s not just men who are part of the society that objectifies women."

The New Yorker- Yoko Ono

I thought this performance piece was such an interesting study in human nature as well. It must have been interesting to see people reacting to the piece and also to see which parts of her clothing they chose to cut. Some people taking care not to expose her, while others felt almost dared to, wondering if that is what she wanted. It is so symbolic when you compare it the experience women have in real like with male attention.

2)  "In the film of the New York show, the last person recorded cutting is a young man with a bit of a swagger who lustily shears off all that was left of Ono’s top so that she has to cover her breasts. He is heckled. But no one stops him. For the hecklers are part of the show. And, of course, the more people who cut, the easier it is to become a cutter. It must be O.K. Everybody’s doing it."

I am not surprised this happened in New York, where people tend to be a bit more bold. The fact that no one stops the man from leaving her exposed but they bother to heckle seems almost as if the people are virtue signaling since their verbal protests to the action do not make him stop. It could have been a teaching moment for a young man to not take advantage of her but people stopped short of actually intervening to protect her.

Chapter 3- History

1)"History makes us, whether we like it or not. Where we have been shapes who we are now, as well as what we can imagine for the future. But when we know our past, we are no longer captive to mysterious forces. We can understand that things happen for a reason. We see how certain actions, by certain actors, lead to certain results, and how other actions, by other actors, lead to other results."

This makes so much sense because there are certain themes that are recurrent when you look at history. There are things people are more sensitive to because of past experiences. Knowing your history and that of the people around you, allows you to make informed decisions about the future. Looking back on previous times, good and bad, reminds us how to not repeat mistakes, but we should remember to look forward and make things better.

2) "The dominant myths and symbols of society have real power, both intellectual and emotional. Sometimes these dominant myths and symbols have to be challenged outright—the myth that women are inferior to men, for example—but they can also be appropriated and used for other purposes. One needs to be careful, however, that the symbols you mobilize today don’t return to haunt you tomorrow."

I feel this quote is even more true in our current environment where things change so quickly and the public perception of things changes on a dime now due to social media, and us having access to so many images at one time. It is important when using symbols to get a message across, the artist understands the symbols original meaning and the various ways it could be interpreted.  People are very quick to appropriate without enough research and it can lead to the unintentional result of certain groups feeling exploited, misrepresented, or used. 

My definition of performance art is an artist using music, dance, sometimes sets in an organized way to send a message