"Performance Art"

Analysis of Performance Art by Kristine Stiles

From the reading, the essay discusses the beginning of Performance in the art world in Japan, Europe and the U.S. Sparked from World War II, artists attempted to use their bodies as subjects after a huge demolition of culture throughout the world. The Holocaust was one of the largest genocides in history and people needed heal after such an event. Different art movements embraced the act of using one's body in their art, such as Dada, Bauhaus, and Gutai. The history of performance also sparked from the Situationist and Fluxus movements. After World War II, artists attempted to reclaim their space in the art world. The Nazis took away many freedoms from creative types during the war, especially the destruction of art, literature, and other forms of expression. Another leading demolition of culture at the time included imperialist commercialization infiltrating different countries, especially America into Japan. The Situationists wanted to create happenings, in which viewers could experience art instead of statically viewing work in pretentious environments. The urban space became a transformational experience for artists at the time, resulting from a compression of time and space in busy cities. Futurists were also inspired by the change in pace, attempting to interpret this within there movement. Creating work that represented the feeling from rural to urban was the main drive for Futurists and Situationists. From the rise of performance art after World War II, the movement spread to many different countries. Artists picked up where other artists left off. Jackson Pollock was creating huge gestural murals that included the subject of his movements throughout his work. He attempted to represent his grand movements through his splattered and bold mark-making. Many performance artists create experiences for the viewer rather than a piece for someone to look at. The gesture of performance becomes a happening for "experiential immediacy".