Performance Art?

What is performance art? How is it different from theater, opera, storytelling or any number of other art forms?

Performance Art is first and foremost, an evolving art form. Here is a current description:

What are the characteristics of Performance Art?

• Performance Art is live. (I am a live performer.)

Performance Art has no rules or guidelines. It is art because the artist says it is art. It is experimental. ( I am always experimenting & pushing the boundaries of traditional storytelling. In the last few years I have begun calling myself an improvisational storyteller, relying on basic story outlines and spontaneity to tell traditional tales, as well as other artforms like dance, visual aides, music and the drawing of actual pictures as I tell.)

• Performance Art is not for sale. It may, however, sell admission tickets and film rights. (This is storytelling, unless it is videotaped of course.)

• Performance Art may be comprised of painting or sculpture (or both), dialogue, poetry, music, dance, opera, film footage, turned on television sets, laser lights, live animals and fire. Or all of the above. There are as many variables as there are artists.

• Performance Art is a legitimate artistic movement. It has longevity (some performance artists, in fact, have rather large bodies of work) and is a degreed course of study in many post-secondary institutions.

• Dada, Futurism, the Bauhaus and the Black Mountain College all inspired and helped pave the way for Performance Art.

• Performance Art is closely related to Conceptual Art. Both Fluxus and Body Art are types of Performance Art. (I definitely define my visual artworks as conceptual - they rely on the active engagement & imagination of the viewer, much like my storytelling performances.)

• Performance Art may be entertaining, amusing, shocking or horrifying. No matter which adjective applies, it is meant to be memorable. (Well, I do strive to make my work memorable! In a positive way of course.)

Through research on the web and at the library, I discovered many top performance artists. I also discovered that I have A LOT in common with them and have been moving into their artistic territory for some time without realizing it. Here is a link to my current favorite who is serving as a huge inspiration for me, Laurie Anderson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzYu88jIDYs

Using my new Casio keyboard and sound system, I've been experimenting with the idea of altering my voice and adding electronic sounds for future programs at the Dallas Museum of Art.

(This is something I'd already toyed with last November when I told a story using Jazz tunes recorded in the 1920's for background music & as the rhythm for two character voices. It was hugely fun and the audience seemed to really enjoy it too.)

Over a year ago I had the pleasure of meeting Janine Antoni - someone whose work I deeply admire and respond to. Janine's a performance artist - a very successful one. This meeting, listening to her talk about her current projects, our following emails, really had a profound effect on me. Here was a like-minded soul, someone who was expressing herself artistically using multiple artforms, as well as, her own physical body. It was like the parting of the Red Sea for me. At last, I could see a path that I could follow clearly ahead of me. All the past experimenting with painting, sculpture, sewing, music, weaving, acting, storytelling, music, dance...could be merged and integrated into something called "Performance Art". WOW! HOW AWESOME!

My rebellious inner artist rejoices at the liberation that the title "Performance Artist" provides. Performance artists can & do use folktlore and personal stories in their work, but they are freer to leave the confines of "traditional" storytelling to explore, expand and express their creative visions.

Yes indeed, that is very alluring to me. The question is, "Am I brave enough to be a pioneer, a risk taker, stretching the boundaries of traditional storytelling?"

Perhaps.