Talk:Performance art

Performance art
The current entry here actually better describes "performing arts". Performance art is a more specialist term that refers to performance that is connected to the "fine arts" (painting, sculpture etc), and particularly to the avant-garde and postmodernist traditions in Western culture. That said, it is a sod to define and so I won't try now. But feel free to nag me if you want and I'll get round to it (unless someone else does). Ireneshusband


 * I've tried to improve it but, as you say, it's a sod to define. Feel free to hack it around as you see fit. --Camembert


 * Good work. Well done! -- Ireneshusband 07:28, 30 May 2006 (UTC)


 * There's also an article entitled Introduction to Performance Art in Wikiversity which offers some additional insights. --gdm (talk) 19:11, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Picture
I hope my pic does illustrate performance art! That's what I've heard this kind of outdoor art called. If I'm wrong, I'll remove it. -- Adrian Pingstone 21:32 Mar 23, 2003 (UTC)


 * Yep, that's performance art alright. --Camembert

Actually, it is hard to know if that is performance art (in it's lineage within the history of art) or a form of street theatre. Who is the artist?


 * (cutting it) I suppose that's true - I think it's a fair enough picture to illustrate the article though, at least until we get one of Acconci or somebody... --Camembert

Georges Mathieu
One can wonder why, while there is a (too) short mention of Japan's Gutai movement, who undeniably anticipated performance art, there is absolutely no mention of Georges Mathieu, the founder of Lyrical Abstraction (the European equivalent of Abstract Expressionism) who inspired Gutai (Mathieu and Pollock are the two artist references published in Gutai's manifesto of 1956), who inspired Yves Klein (who was a friend of Mathieu and fellow royalist, cf. http://www.yvesklein.com/fr/photographies/view/3458/georges-mathieu-pendant-la-performance-d-yves-klein-anthropometries-de-l-epoque-bleue/?of=78) and who inspired the Viennese Actionists (cf. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQdnsd920OM where you can see Mathieu do a live action painting on a 6 x 2.5 meter canvas at the Fleischmarkt Theater, the avant-garde theatre and home of the Viennese Actionists).

Art historian Kristine Stiles states, in an article titled "Painting, photography, performance: the case of Georges Mathieu" for the exhibition catalogue of Georges Mathieu's retrospective at the Galerie du Jeu de Paume in Paris in 2002 (rough English translation of the original French text): "Yves Klein saw in him a guide and one of his royalist peers. The famous Saut dans le vide (1960), with which Klein documented through photography a leap into the unique, spontaneous and dangerous space, testifies to his debt to Mathieu. But Klein's debt to his mentor is also conceptual and intellectual. Klein's interest in danger, impulsiveness of gesture, speed and improvisation, which he expressed, among other things, through his lively brushes, echoes Mathieu's approach. The Viennese Actionists also recognized Mathieu, making his performance on April 2, 1959 in Vienna at the Theater am Fleischmarkt an important factor in their decision to devote themselves to action."

Mathieu was the first to organize performances and happenings, as early as in 1954 he invites a small crowd of journalists and amateurs to see the live painting of one of his most famous paintings: Les Capétiens partout!, a 6-meter long artwork that he executes in an hour and twenty minutes. In May, 1956, in front of around 2,000 people at the Théâtre de la Ville – Sarah-Bernhardt, on the Night of Poetry, to action paint a huge canvas measuring twelve by four meters, using up to 800 paint tubes. In 1957, Georges Mathieu went to Japan, he executed in Tokyo 21 canvasses in three days including an 8- and a 15-meter fresco, painted in a very short time in front of a large crowd, then in Osaka, he painted in public on the roof of the Daimaru, dressed in a kimono (he wishes to "reintroduce the notion of play into art and culture"). All details and photographs can be found at https://georges-mathieu.fr/en/publications/mathieu-and-tapie-1948-1958-a-decade-of-adventure/ In 1959, he painted Le Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy under the eyes of TV cameras in Paris, while jazz drummer Kenny Clarke was soloing next to the canvas.

But then why this glaring omission? Kristine Stiles has an answer to it (from the same article): "Why was Mathieu's contribution to art history (and in particular to performance history) neglected at the time? Why did his theoretical writings fall into oblivion? The negative reaction of American critics to Mathieu's work seems to me to refer to the old obsession with exhibitionism in the United States, especially the one captured by photography and published in mainstream magazines such as Time. That he was rich, eccentric, and aristocratic in essence, and showed it, did little to help him in the puritan climate of the time. In Europe, some artists linked to the political left rejected Mathieu because of his royalist convictions. This would have been understandable if Yves Klein's royalism had changed the reception he received from the avant-garde."

Even though he did not use the “performance” name to describe his art, which is logical as there was no previous reference, in his books Mathieu explained he was placing the work of art “at the crossroads of the object, the act, and the behavior”. According to him there had to be an object, a resulting work of art, for instance a painting, and he would later reject the purely conceptual and more recent versions of performance art. Nonetheless, the act and behavior aspects of this trilogy clearly relate to performance art, therefore he did not only anticipate performance art, he theorized and executed the earliest version of it. Fresh Mike (talk) 13:36, 29 April 2020 (UTC)

Cabaret Voltaire
Also your link to Cabaret Voltaire as an early form of performance art erroneously connects to the 1980's band called Cabaret Voltaire, who are not performance artists but musicians. The original Cabaret Voltaire, was a mutli-disciplinary cabaret and is considered an early precursor to contemporary performance art. It began in Zurich in 1916.


 * No, I think that link is correct - if you look at their article, you'll see it says "Their earliest performances were dadaist-inspired performance art". We could probably do with one to the other Cabaret Voltaire though - I think there's an article on it somewhere, but I can't seem to find it for the minute. --Camembert


 * (Found it --Camembert)

Sorry, I have no idea who the artist in my picture is, I just came across him while on holiday in Paris. Adrian Pingstone 09:06, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC)

new picture for contemporary performance art
The quality of this picture is not great but I think it serves well as a picture for this article: the work in itself is a question on what performance is (danger? real feelings?) and how it can be documented and how this documentation is an altered view of what the real thing was. If I can get a better photo of this work, I will post it.

List of performance artists
I have concerns that the list of performance artists in this article is an easy target for sneaky vandalism. I'd like to propose categorizing everyone on this list as Category:Performance_artists, and removing the list. Any comments? -- Norvy (talk) 05:10, 30 August 2005 (UTC)
 * It looks like that category has been around a while. But I think the proper wiki format is an article of the list. Here are some other examples:

Clubmarx 23:58, September 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * List of graphic designers
 * List of illustrators
 * List of modern artists
 * List of multimedia artists

The specific problem I have with a list is that people may add someone who doesn't belong, and those who actually follow that person won't know about it, because nothing happens to their page. But I would support breaking it out to a List of performance artists, if you think it's needed. -- Norvy (talk) 00:40, 5 September 2005 (UTC)


 * I have taken a leaf from Wikiwizard Krash who moved a list of magicians from the foot of Magic (illusion) to a new article titled List of magicians - I have just created a stub List of performance artists to which I have moved the list from Performance art. Hope it makes sense!thegirlinwhite 22:31, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

performance art
hi there. i am with you about the invidious business of listing artists - vanity does seem to be the criterion for inclusion for some of the entries. perhaps editors such as yourself need to use a simple rule of thumb - perhaps if google does not draw a result on an entry or there is no press file at that person's wiki or web site then they are perhaps a candidate for deletion?

i think it would less of a clutter to follow your suggestion of lists appearing in categories - but even THESE would need pruning along the above lines.

i also note with disappointment that the pictures used are of street entertainers. perhaps we should upload images of marina abramovic, hermann nitsch or joseph beuys? otherwise there is the danger of bathos in that the text is fine but undermined elsewhere.

the authority on this area of arts practice is generally regarded to be lois keidan of british cultural research insitute live arts development agency.

x

tgiw thegirlinwhite 11:30, 7 September 2005 (UTC)

Image moved
I have moved image:performance.art.london.arp.500pix.jpg to Street theatre as this kind of presentation is not "Performance art" as defined in this article, but street entertainment, carried out by actors, not artists. Tyrenius 23:54, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

Wrestling
Performance art also appears to be the best way to refer to proffesional wrestling. Whilst it barely qualifies as art due to the low-brow nature, the use of this term seems to be necessary to mitigate the offense caused by labelling it as staged to a completely different degree than sport. If this could be added near the bottom, or a better term found, it would deflame the debate at that page, where this article is bizarely the first link.86.128.121.119 20:59, 8 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't think professional wrestling fits the definition. Performance Art is by definition innovative, challenging, and non-commercial. Professional wrestling does, however, fit into the broader category of Performing Arts.--gdm (talk) 19:24, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

"Unreferenced" tag
My last edit summary should have read "added 'Unreferenced' tag," but I accidentally hit the Enter key before I was finished. I know that there is a source cited, so the tag isn't entirely accurate (it says that the article does not cite any sources), but one source is hardly enough for this topic. Skiasaurus (talk) 15:00, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

controversies of performance art
I think that the performance art wiki page should have something mentioning the controversies related to some art works. Like, we should mention things where artists were arrested for their works or where artists went against certain societal laws. Do you know any art pieces like this and can you talk about them some more; perhaps even add them to the page? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dracothejuggler (talk • contribs) 04:58, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Doors are open, you just must find an acceptable source to refer to.--Fluss (talk) 10:20, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Online performance art
Since we are in an era of technology and the internet I think it is important to mention performance art from an online theme. One thing that comes to my mind about online performance art is youtube celebrities and how these people create "performance art" for their online audience. Although there is one more difference with online art which is it has the ability to be more mediated, and the artist can edit his/her work more than if it were done offline (although maybe that isnt the case with live blogging/art).Dracothejuggler (talk) 06:08, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Good point, full ACK. Someone who can put some lines about that, with reference to a good source?--Fluss (talk) 10:17, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Klein's Leap Into the Void
wasn't simply a performance, the final image (currently used here to illustrate performance art) is actually a photomontage, so perhaps it's not an ideal choice. See the WP article on Klein, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yves_Klein#Aero_works —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.203.35.170 (talk) 15:41, 19 June 2010 (UTC)


 * I agree. It should be removed. --Iwoj (talk) 05:54, 17 September 2010 (UTC)


 * Though the argument, it was not "simply a performance", because the image, according to Sunday Times July 22, 2006, is a photomontage, hits an important point, removing the image would have been nonsense. "The image, which has had a lasting influence on performance art, was expressive of Klein’s intent to explore the metaphorical void central to his work, a neutral zone free of prior prejudices" (Sunday Times July 22, 2006). Art is not an undertaking of "simply the truth". The image ins not "simply an image". It shows a conceptual work of a visual artist, consisting of the mental image of the leap, presented on the stage of photography, utilizing the limited technical possibilities in the year of production. In principle comparable are other conceptual performance scenes produced for the stage of photography, like the images of Rudolf Schwarzkogler. I agree, it does not show a performance in the conscious meaning of the word around 1970. Nevertheless, it shows an influential conceptual forerunner of such performance art.--Fluss (talk) 07:52, 20 March 2011 (UTC)


 * That's all very interesting but at the moment this piece isn't even mentioned in the article. Likewise, the caption currently describes it as a performance which it is not. It's a photomontage and a piece of conceptual art. It should be removed unless it is discussed in the article with sources that describe it as an influence on performance art.  freshacconci  talk talk  14:58, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
 * The leap into the void is called performance by renowned art institutions. Please read here. The present article follows a broad definition of performance art, even including performance art close to theatrical performance. We have to do with a lot of different understandings of performance art here. I will respect the broader understandings, though I inform about performance art in its narrower sense too. When I begin to base the history part of the article on sources, most likely it will refer to Yves Klein as a forerunner too. - While the distinction between conceptual forerunners and conscious performance artists will be mentioned more clear than now.--Fluss (talk) 17:03, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
 * I'm not opposed to the inclusion of the Klein image. It's an important work. However, there is no explanation for it currently and the caption describes it as a performance. For the uninitiated, it appears the photo is literal, that it is a documentation of a performance. As an encyclopedia, we need to assume the reader is not familiar with the work or with advanced art theory.  freshacconci  talk talk  17:06, 20 March 2011 (UTC)


 * Understanding your reasons, I'll take the Leap off the introduction. You might place another one there. Any other suggestion of you is acceptable for me also. --Fluss (talk) 17:37, 20 March 2011 (UTC)
 * My changes below the image and at Yves Klein in the text of the article may not be the last word, but you see, I try.--Fluss (talk) 17:59, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Images of contemporary works
We need some more contemporary images besides just Stelarc, which is a very specific kind of performance work. However, it really should be an artist established as a performance artist first (as opposed to someone working primarily in other media), someone who is notable and preferably not an older artist.  freshacconci  talk talk  16:08, 8 November 2010 (UTC)
 * Abramovic added.--Fluss (talk) 09:39, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

Upgrade
I developed the german article Performance (Kunst) during the last years and intend to upgrade the english article performance art as well. - Respecting differences in the understanding of performance art in the anglo-american and the continental european context. In the next weeks or months, the article might go through transitional stages which might provoke your critique. I see critique as a valuable source for joint development. To save us of the confusion with different incommunicative editors, please show your critique on this discussion page. By the way, I love to reference to sources.

I do not work for a performance group or individual or gallery. I know many aspects of the theme as an insider and worked backstage with or for well known performers, but I have enough art history and scientific degrees at hand, to keep a good distance to the subject. I do not intend to bring the article to top quality, but I will shake the items in the article into a time-line, differentiate better between forms and origins of performance art, explain the impact of artists, who arthistorically left tracks (no list), and finally update to the first decade of the new century. If nothing stops me inbetween.

Someone correcting my english grammar and style really would make me happy.--Fluss (talk) 09:39, 20 March 2011 (UTC)

The paragraph Performance is partly redundant to what has been said earlier in the article, partly it can be included in different parts of the paragraph "History" which I want to extend to a more detailed history anyway.--fluss (talk) 15:06, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

The restructuring of the content according to a timeline reveals that except content referring to the 60s and 70s the article had nothing about further developments of performance art. I deleted some dubious unreferenced redundant sentences and will include more precise material piece by piece, to make the article readable as a short overview about performance art.--fluss (talk) 15:51, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Contributions to an update of the article from the seventies until now, referencing to good sources, are highly welcome. If you are experienced or don't mind my editing, please directly write to the article, otherwise please suggest such material here.--fluss (talk) 08:42, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Actually the article only speaks about performance art that happened more than 20 years ago. Furthermore it is US-centric. At least the last works of Marina Abramovic should be mentioned and maybe a word about Matthew Barney and others. I might add european scene content slowly, and a bit about performance art from asean regions. I am happy, if you are faster.--fluss (talk) 11:56, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

The basic upgrade has been done by Modernist and me. Further development welcome.--fluss (talk) 13:28, 6 May 2011 (UTC)

HA Schult -- Undue Weight
I've recently been working on the article on HA Schult and noticed that the original author of that article added a significant amount of new material about this German artist in this WP article on performance art. While Schult is a performance artist and notable enough to warrant his own WP article, I am not convinced that he is recognized to a sufficient degree to warrant 2 separate paragraphs in this historical article, if any mention at all. From what I can see, he has been given more text in the article than any of the other more significant artists mentioned.

As a guide for balance, I've consulted (not exhaustively albeit) a few English-language articles that deal with the history of performance art as a primary theme, (e.g. and I see no mention of Schult's name. My concern is that Schult is a relatively minor figure in the history of performance art (as reflected by his virtual absence from all English languages sources dealing with this broad subject) and that by devoting so much (any?) text to Schult, it exaggerates his role and prominence in performance art history; essentially elevating him to the head of the line. The relevant policies and guidelines pertaining to these issues are: WP:UNDUE, WP:ADVOCACY, WP:SELFPROMOTE, WP:BALANCE, WP:FRINGE, and WP:PUFF.

If Schult is to be included in this article at all, the decision should be based on whether or not he is prominently mentioned in the most reliable academic texts on the history of performance art, and the weight given should mirror that of the academic sources,. Rhode Island Red (talk) 23:44, 15 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Undue weight? In Germany, HA Schult is reckoned among "the most important performance artists of our time". See Nico Schröter, Kai Giesler and Philipp Kohde, LOVE LETTERS BUILDING - Postfuhramt Berlin Mitte - ein Denkmal im Sog von Werbung und Marketing (Technische Universität Cottbus, 2002), p. 6. See also the many bibliographical references to publications on Schult's work in John Gray, Action Art: A Bibliography of Artists' Performance: From Futurism to Fluxus and Beyond (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993), pp. 237-38. By the way, Schult creates performances at the cost of millions of dollars. For the immense costs of the "Crash" happening on Staten Island, New York, see Colin Naylor, Contemporary Artists (St. James Press, 1989), p. 850. For the privilege to install 1000 "trash people" on the Great Wall of China, he had to pay 4 million marks. See Flash Art, 231, 2003, 73. See also this American PhD thesis that states on p. 9 that Schult laid out the large sum of four million marks for the exhibition of his "trash people" on the Great Wall of China. In Cologne, a happening staged by Schult involving "19 luxury cars worth a total of over 4 million marks (1.8 million dollars)" caused what was described as the world's most expensive traffic jam. So much for the importance of this "relatively minor figure in the history of performance art". Wikiwiserick (talk) 19:20, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, undue weight. Please directly address the issues I raised. The material in question has been removed pending resolution of this issue. You seem to be on an WP:ADVOCACY campaign to rewrite the role of Schult in art history and to exaggerate his significance. Rhode Island Red (talk) 20:26, 16 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I have reincluded the short references to Schult. It is only your personal opinion that Schult has no importance as a performance artist. The academic sources cited above show that he is reckoned among the most important performance artists of our time. Wikiwiserick (talk) 01:25, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * Kindly address the issues raised above instead of arbitrarily reverting. Edit warring is not the solution here. Thank you. Rhode Island Red (talk) 15:35, 17 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The issues raised above have been addressed, as I have cited academic sources supporting the view that Schult is an important German performance artist. Wikiwiserick (talk) 11:15, 18 August 2012 (UTC)

etymology of "performance art"
When and by whom was the term "performance art" first used? This would be helpful in understanding the historical context of the 1960s, when I believe the term first came into art world use. (As well as the relationship with earlier concepts such as "happening", with which performance was often contrasted at the time - even if the present article is confused on the subject) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.224.103.123 (talk) 21:29, 16 September 2013 (UTC)

History
Isn't "ritual" the ancestor of performance art? Kortoso (talk) 18:11, 8 October 2013 (UTC)

Interesting idea. If you have a citation for that suggestion in a good source, you can put it up as "[Author] has suggested that..." FourViolas (talk) 02:19, 10 October 2014 (UTC)

Durational performance
"Durantional performance" refers to performance art pieces which endure long enough for their length itself to be a significant component of the message.

Examples are Tehching Hsieh's One Year Pieces (one is mentioned on this page, more on his page); many of Marina Abramović's works, including The Artist is Present mentioned on this page, Ragnar Kjartansson's The Visitors currently in art-world discussion (installed at Boston's Institute for Contemporary Art, reviewed in the New York Times, etc.), and John Cage's composition As Slow As Possible (currently undergoing a 639-year-long performance).

I think it's noteworthy enough to get a section on this page, or its own page. The phrase is often used, with or without further clarification, in reviews of the above and similar works, and there are paragraphs about durationality in texts on performance art. There are Wikipedia pages for subtopics of durational performance, such as As Slow as Possible, Tehching Hsieh, and Marina Abramović Institute.

I'm new to Wikipedia protocol. Should I make the page and submit it for review, or let people kick it around here for a while, or what? FourViolas (talk) 02:05, 10 October 2014 (UTC)


 * Wow—looks like Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) has single-handedly shifted common usage to "endurance art". Durational art and duration art now redirect there. FourViolas (talk) 23:28, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Of course
Without fail wikipedia trys to get nudity on every page possible lol. WikiOriginal-9 (talk) 14:27, 14 November 2014 (UTC)

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/jun/09/emma-sulkowiczs-this-is-not-a-site-taken-down-by-cyberattack 72.196.97.136 (talk) 09:35, 9 February 2016 (UTC)

Merger Discussion
Request received to merge articles: Endurance art into Performance art; dated November 2015. Discuss here. GenQuest "Talk to Me" 22:57, 28 November 2015 (UTC)


 * Oppose. Endurance art is a category of performance art that seems notable and distinctive enough for its own article. SarahSV (talk) 23:09, 28 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Oppose per SV and my comments in the section above. GNG is met, and the subfield is of distinct interest. FourViolas (talk) 15:32, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Oppose Performance art covers a particularly large field of artistic activity; while Endurance art focuses on a specific aspect of performance, needing it's own article...Modernist (talk) 16:29, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
 * Support "endurance art" exists on a continuum with "performance art". The term "endurance" is merely descriptive of a facet of some performance art, and even in that use the term is somewhat fanciful. Despite being applied the term does not set aside a distinct type of art hence the existence of a separate article is misleading. Feats of endurance are not accorded the status "art". The article endurance art suggests that David Blaine and Tehching Hsieh are engaged in similar pursuits. I don't think they are. Bus stop (talk) 06:37, 2 December 2015 (UTC)

some notes on this article, with due respect
This article is a good start, but I think it needs some further consideration.

Most pertinent is the comment that performance art is primarily performance done within the context and understanding of the art world. Otherwise we would have to include the uses of the term metaphorically, as in trying to include Greek plays or professional wrestling (but why not US pro football?) or, for an up-to-the-minute reference, the press conferences of  Sean Spicer for the neophyte US president Donald Trump whose own spontaneous remarks can be regarded as an ongoing performance. Or why not the horrific beheading videos of ISIS? Or, from another continuum, how about evens such as Wigstock?

There are quite a few really well-known artists who were considered highly notable or influential, many on the US scene, missing here, such as Adrian Piper, Guerrilla Art Action Group, Stuart Brisley (British), Otto Muehl, Suzanne Lacy, Ulrike Rosenbach (German), Mike Kelley, Paul McCarthy, Michael Smith, Martha Wilson, Charlemagne Palestine, Alison Knowles, General Idea (Canada), Rose Finn-Kelcey (British), Gina Pane, Valie EXPORT( Austrian), Rebecca Horn, Bonnie Sherk, Jim Pomeroy, Terry Fox, Guillermo Gomez-Peña (Mexican), the Kipper Kids (German, British), James Luna, Ron Athey, Janine Antoni, William Pope L, Tino Seghal (German), Andrea Fraser, Coco Fusco, Regina José Galindo (Guatemalan), Kalup Linzy to name just a few, while there is little rationale for including the 'earth artists" mentioned here (and is Carl Andre an earth artist?)

Some of the names i've mentioned are in the box at the bottom, which, however, also includes a fair number of minor or artworld-marginal figures and groups. --

Abramovic, who was most known for working with Ulay, emerged only in the past decade as a singular artist, yet Ulay does not appear here. Articles tend to reflect the buzz of the moment in which they were written, developed, or augmented. Thus the overexteded section on her show at MoMA in 2011. This section, imo, should go: "A support group for the "sitters," "Sitting with Marina," was established on Facebook.[29] The performance attracted celebrities such as Björk and James Franco and received  coverage on the internet.[30] During Marina's performance, other artists performed for her. For example,[31] Amir Baradaran replicated her manner of dress. He approached Abramović and proposed marriage to her body and to her body of work: “I love you, Marina,” he said."

--

Expanded Cinema is about cinema, not performance art, and no one I know would consider Jud Yalkut to be a performance artist. (Nor, really Nam June Paik). It is a mistake to confuse avant-gardism with performance without further consideration. Similarly, HA Schult does not appear to be so highly regarded or even reviewed in the art press as to warrant his championing or foregrounding here, which seems aspirational, not reflective of reputation or influence. (For example, in comparison with three-quarters of the people in my little list above.)

--

It's great that there's also an entry called list of performance arts, so maybe some more movement back and forth (some brought in here from there, some overly exposed here moved there?) thanks, anyone, for giving some serious thought to adjustment Actio (talk) 02:58, 26 April 2017 (UTC)

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Proposed merge with Feminist performance art
Feminist performance art is not a Wikipedia article but a school essay reporting a couple of opinions. Several aspects of feminism in performance art are already better covered in this article; anything useable from there (the references, perhaps?) should be merged into this page. Justlettersandnumbers (talk) 12:34, 29 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Yes, User:Justlettersandnumbers, I would support that merge.E.M.Gregory (talk) 21:08, 7 June 2018 (UTC)
 * Oppose merge, on the grounds that the topic of Feminist performance art is independently notable. Notability is determined by the subject, not the content (WP:CONTN). There are whole books written on this topic, including:
 * So, I think that the page should be improved rather than merged. Klbrain (talk) 22:09, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose This is a notable topic on its own and it would be best to improve the existing article rather than merging it. Feminist performance art is less a subset of performance art but rather a parallel movement with its own history and theory. In fact, feminist performance art is more a subcategory of feminist art rather than performance art per ce. Nevertheless, the solution to a weak article about a notable topic is not merging but improving.  freshacconci  (✉) 02:33, 24 January 2019 (UTC)
 * So, I think that the page should be improved rather than merged. Klbrain (talk) 22:09, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose This is a notable topic on its own and it would be best to improve the existing article rather than merging it. Feminist performance art is less a subset of performance art but rather a parallel movement with its own history and theory. In fact, feminist performance art is more a subcategory of feminist art rather than performance art per ce. Nevertheless, the solution to a weak article about a notable topic is not merging but improving.  freshacconci  (✉) 02:33, 24 January 2019 (UTC)
 * Oppose This is a notable topic on its own and it would be best to improve the existing article rather than merging it. Feminist performance art is less a subset of performance art but rather a parallel movement with its own history and theory. In fact, feminist performance art is more a subcategory of feminist art rather than performance art per ce. Nevertheless, the solution to a weak article about a notable topic is not merging but improving.  freshacconci  (✉) 02:33, 24 January 2019 (UTC)


 * Oppose seems to have independent visions and goals...Modernist (talk) 12:56, 24 January 2019 (UTC)

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"Just no"
User:Johnbod, what makes a source "non-relevant", and how is this confusing for the reader?Lobeveeps (talk) 00:29, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 * This is a subject about art, or art history. A stray remark (which I can't see) in a book on the bible makes the source "non-relevant", and not a WP:RS for this topic, just as a comment on the Old Testament in a book on modern art would be. There is nothing (except one questionable para) about anything before the 1960s in the article, and the inclusion of a not-at-all well known biblical incident will just puzzle readers. Can you find any reference in a WP:RS actually about art?  You obviously find the concept of biblical performance art amusing or piquant, but putting it in (especially as the lead image) is un-encyclopaedic. So please don't do it again. You've be blocked once, and can be again. Johnbod (talk) 00:45, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 * Essentially Performance art references a contemporary art form. Performance art has been relevant in art critical circles relatively recently; since the 1980s. Having a 'biblical' image in the lead is wrong, misleading, irrelevant, and a really slim leap into thin air...Modernist (talk) 11:06, 20 April 2018 (UTC)
 * I agree with Johnbod and Modernist. Including a biblical image here is basically misrepresenting the subject and mocking the Bible. bd2412  T 01:48, 25 April 2018 (UTC)

4chan
The following is a first over draft for inclusion of the various works of 4chan's anonymous users as a form of satire and ongoing collective performance art. Please provide feedback and add to it before it any versions are pushed to the article.

4chan Main article: 4chan

The English-language imageboard is a noteworthy online example of performance art, which extends beyond the format and methods of its predecessors. The popularized unattributed quote about the /b/ sub-board, "The stories and information posted here are artistic works of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact." serves excellently to summarize nature an absurdity of its content.

As both the center point for internet culture, and a common subject of misinformation to those on the outside, the several relevant boards of 4chan, especially /pol/, are an ongoing performance, involving an unknown number of nameless faceless of individuals, who indulge in a manufactured fog of hyperbole, satire, and genuine exploration of taboo thinking, that mixes together in a manner most inseparable.

Topics of conversation common to /pol/ often intentionally bear no resemblance to a normal social interaction, fraught with obvious overstatement, deception, misinformation, and overt theatrics. Ethologist Richard Dawkins has published numerous works which concern in part or in whole the phenomena of anonymous mass communication, especially concerning the manner in which something of an ethic of frivolity and general surrealism emerges, where many members refer to others by collective statements such "the anons" when speaking about the primary volume of the boards users, or "normies" to discuss those who live their lives as simple consumers of uncontroversial, simple, and repetitive media and culture which requires very little thought or formulation.

Notable Example

The practice of "trolling" is rather emblematic of much of 4chan's more notable collective performances, primarily rely on such tools of psychological manipulation as Identity politics, Confirmation bias, and Cognitive dissonance to provoke extreme reactions from otherwise unassuming characters for no better given reason than "for the lulz" a statement which ultimately means, "because I can". Over time, the general nature of 4han's conduct has changed, both as their internal culture has becoming increasingly self aware, as well as the external culture has put forward increasingly exploitable subjects and persons for the purpose of putting on a show.


 * 1) BaldForBieber

A simple and primitive example of 4chan early efforts regard various hoaxes and misinformation campaigns, this particular one involving the proliferation of the idea that then popular pop singer Justin Bieber had developed cancer, and that there was a large movement of people shaving their heads in support.

The hoax employed a number of methods, including an edited photo of a medical test result, spreading an unedited recent clip of Mr Bieber vomiting during a concert and claiming it was due to chemotherapy, and impersonating celebrities in the form of edited screenshots. In the wake of the hoax, numerous people, mostly adolescent girls, had shaved themselves bald, even numerous B, C and D list celebrities.

While the joke left many bald, though otherwise unharmed, it was one of many early examples of 4chan's slowing growing capacity to manipulate people, and to effect the outside world from behind a keyboard.

Rare Pepes and Pepe The Frog

"Rare Pepes" were a phenomena which made its way through 4chan in late 2014 into early 2015, whereby various users would create unique Photoshop edits of the common internet macro image Pepe The Frog, posting them to the boards with claims of their limited edition nature, as well as increasingly ridiculous claims concerning the good fortune, joy, or untold wealth that this unique commodity would bring its owner. In March of 2015, a large Rare Pepe collection was posted on the online auction site E-bay and supposedly sold, the true identity of the vendor and purchaser remain unknown. From this point, it continued to grow into a game of increasingly escalating one-upsmanship for increasingly absurd edits, prices, rarities, and effects. The edits bled over into an immense variety of unrelated subject amtters, such a Yu-Gi-Oh Cards, My Little Pony, Pokémon, Celebrity Figures, and Hindu Dieties. The increasingly surreal cycle of absurdist humor would develop many of the conventions of meme culture, with their tangential relationships, recursive editing, and generational jokes, and secure Pepe the Frog a place of prominence in the cultural fabric of 4chan from then on.

Rare Pepe's however, also represented the first instance of 4chan's insular culture intersecting with the outside world in the form of what would go on to be deemed "normies". The boards were outraged in the way their meme was appropriated without any understanding or acknowledgement of the actual context of it, effectively "killing" the meme in the eyes of 4chan.

As what would later to be regarded as something of an act of revenge, 4chan embarked on its greatest yet feat of social engineering, beginning a mass misinformation campaign to convince the public at large that Pepe the Frog was an alt-right hate symbol. Their techinques refined by years of hoaxes, shaving children and microwaving iPhones made a successful campaign, even going so far as to have it labelled a hate symbol by the Anti Defamation Leauge

(More to be done, but this is the start so far)
 * No thanks! Firstly, this is completely unreferenced, and the very definition of WP:OR. Then it reads like a WP:ESSAY. Also I very much doubt it all falls under any useful definition of performance art. Sorry! Johnbod (talk) 10:15, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Well, I intend to proceed on working on this nonetheless. I'm sorry that the first draft I ran down just to get something written in the time I had isn't quite up to snuff. I have a few sources to eventually add in, but haven't done much in the way of citing yet because I haven't finished, and the leg work to do citations is tedious until the end. Also, perhaps you don't agree with the assessment of performance art because you live outside of the rather insular culture, but nonetheless that is what it is regarded by various sociologists and ethologists who have put in the time to research it, as well as various cultural figures within and adjacent to the boards. Also, how pretentious is "Useful definition of performance art". Get out of here with that. (Now that you mention it though, given that its based largely on poorly documented, and largely interpretable cultural perceptions, Essay is exactly what it is and should be. Conducting research on this matter is exceptionally difficult, as everything vanishes from existence after a few days unless documented elsewhere, and usually its not documented consistenly) Azeranth (talk) 18:59, 10 May 2019 (UTC)
 * Don't say I didn't warn you! You'll need lots of non-internet sources. If it's going to fly, it might well be better in its own article, or added to 4chan. Let others judge who's being pretentious here. Our current "Useful definition of performance art" at the start of the article begins: "Performance art is a performance presented to an audience within a fine art context". I'm not seeing this stuff fitting that. Johnbod (talk) 20:15, 10 May 2019 (UTC)

"Traditionally"?
The very first sentence states: Performance art is a performance presented to an audience within a fine art context, traditionally interdisciplinary. If any one thing can be said to be common to all the various forms of performance art, it's that there is nothing "traditional" about it. Indeed, it is quite often deliberately anti-traditional. Also, while a great deal of performance art may be interdisciplinary, a great deal is not.

I'd suggest rewriting this first sentence a bit. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.89.176.249 (talk) 19:49, 7 June 2019 (UTC)


 * How about "ordinarily"? Would that be better? Bus stop (talk) 20:11, 7 June 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion
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 * Sebastian Bieniek Born To Be Bulette Kunsthaus Tacheles 1999 Performance.jpg

Orphaned references in Performance art
I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Performance art's orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "obit": From Modernism:  From John Cage:  

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT ⚡ 01:56, 23 June 2020 (UTC)

Lolay1983 and Azcona
At 19:58, 27 December 2019, User:Lolay1983 began a series of edits that appear to promote Abel Azcona. I have removed some of the text regarding this person, mentioned over 40 times in the article. Coldcreation (talk) 07:18, 29 June 2020 (UTC)


 * I'm surprised and discontented because I have been working hard collecting and translating information for a month and I feel like my work has not only not been appreciated but I've also been attacked and insulted. In the first place, the base for enlarging the article of performance comes from the translation of the big work done by various editors in the spanish wikipedia, so if some artist's image is in the head of the page it has not been my decision, it was just an exact translation. I personally think the new Yves Klein picture is more appropriate. The sad part is that even though I have worked on and have adapted more than 100.000 bytes of content I come to find that after an anonymous user discredits my work atacking and vandalizing it. I think this might have been a consecuence of the fact that the information comes mostly from Latin American and Spain history of performance, because it came from the spanish wikipedia and thats the reason why many latin american and spanish artist's names or the problematic spanish artist's name are repeated. I still have some work to do on context and history, mostly in the 1980as, so mi intention is to keep working on it, but if it's going to get deleteed and attacked then I give up. I admit my mistake when translating too much spanish and latin american material for an english wikipedia more directed towards England or the United States. It is propably in part due to me being a PHD candidate in perfromance art studies in Colombia. From now on I'll be more careful and will try to be more global. What I don't agree with deleting a base artist and that currently appears in current performance textbooks and in my PHD, so I'm going to bring back a few lines that I think are basic in radical performance art and collective performance art. This time I'll ration the content and won't base it in spanish wiki, but I think that completely getting rid of it is just not the way. I'm hurt because this has happened because of an anonymous person who has insulted me and this particular artist and the other russian artist. I ignore this person's reasons for this accusations, but talking about his instagram and personal topics seems weird to me. I don't get what he says about him only exhibiting his work on instagram, you can see in the beggining of his article some museums he has exhibited in, and he has a longer list on his personal website. He has plenty professional exhibitions and saying he doesn't is straight up lying. So I'll keep working on the 1980s and with the few touch-ups that I think should not be ommited I would consider my month-long work on this page done. I hope the time and effort I have spent are valued and I also hope that I won't get accused of conspirations again.--Lolay1983 (talk) 17:39, 1 July 2020 (UTC)


 * : I think I have explained everything here and I think my work is not being respected so I will stop editing this article even though I think is still halfway done.--Lolay1983 (talk) 23:46, 1 July 2020 (UTC)

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 * Yayoi Kusama signing.jpg

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Witkacy (Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz) - The First Performer
For me, the beginning of Performance Art can be found in Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz (Witkacy). More and more German and Polish art theorists are saying that. If you deal with his understanding of theater, lifestyle, philosophy and prose and drama, he has been a real performer. His drama became incredibly popular in the US in the 1960s, although he was initially banned outright by the communist governments and was ridiculed as a would-be artist throughout his life. If someone is serious about him and performance art, it will come to the same conclusion.

https://www.art-in-berlin.de/incbmeld.php?id=4961

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Reversed edits
Hi! The User:Lolay1983, who I have seen has a history of promoting artist Abel Azcona has undone all my edits without justification or addressing any of the notes i put in the edit description. I have reversed a couple, and haven't finished because I fear it's going to be for nothing and it's going to happen again. Can anyone help me on how to proceed? Thank you! Ye11owwa11paper (talk) 12:25, 2 December 2022 (UTC)


 * Same person under username "Artetodo" seems to be doing the same in the spanish version. Ye11owwa11paper (talk) 12:27, 2 December 2022 (UTC)

Addition regarding origin of the term
First the Declaration of the Conflict of Interest: I write here as the Librarian of Galerie Gmurzynska, we are currently working with Marjorie Strider's works and have therefore an interest in adding information that is pertinent to the topic. However, I do believe that the terminological addition I have to make is genuinely valuable for an encyclopaedia, namely I suggest adding Strider as possible origin for the term "Performances" as per art historian and performance artist John Perreault. I therefore propose the following:

The term "performance art" and "performance" became widely used in the 1970s, even though the history of performance in visual arts dates back to futurist productions and cabarets from the 1910s. Art Critic and Performance artist John Perreault credits Marjorie Strider with the invention of the term in 1969.
 * Specific text to be added or removed:

I suggest the change to further narrow down the origin of the specific term "Performances" to its hey-day in 1960s avant-garde art New York. John Perreault is an extremely authoritative source on this topic, as he, at the time, also founded the Association for Performances together with Strider. People researching the history of Performance Art that are interested in the specific terminological questions with the term will here find points from where to start their research by checking the specific differences between Happenings and Performances, as well as the early definitions of "Performance". (This being said, I do believe it would be an extremely valuable task to add some more content to the Performance section as such, but considering my CoI I do not want to meddle too much with the weighting of the sections - however, the highly likely source of the term seems to outweigh CoI here.)
 * Reason for the change:

The referenced book here which is also the catalogue for a whole series of art institutions details John Perreaults suspicion that Strider, who ran - among others - with Acconci and Perreault at the time was instrumental in coining the term, thereby separating it from (especially with Kaprow and friends) Happenings, which was also following in the footsteps of such a non-object art. The lines on page 11pp. read: "Like many other artists, Strider increasingly felt the need to reach outside the narrow confines of the art world. This led her to site-specific installations, to Streetworks, and to performances. In fact, "performances" as a term was probably her invention. A group of artists and poets wanted to differentiate their new artists' theater, taking place in lofts, Y's, churches and in the streets, from the Happenings and Events of the late '50s. They wanted a term that would indicate an art form (continued on p. 15:) that was more structured and cooler than Happenings. Strider suggested the term performances; certain critics took it up and the term lasted."
 * References supporting change:

Hope that this will be accepted, thanks for checking everyone :) GGLibrarian (talk) 13:28, 14 February 2023 (UTC)
 * Pictogram voting keep.svg Go ahead: I have reviewed these proposed changes and suggest that you go ahead and make the proposed changes to the page. Johannes (Talk) (Contribs) (Articles) 20:31, 9 May 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks for looking into this, it is much appreciated. :) Have a great rest of the week. GGLibrarian (talk) 08:17, 10 May 2023 (UTC)