This studio art course will explore performance in a visual art context. Performance art—alternately called live art, actions, happenings, or body art—emerged in the 1970s as a way to break with the traditional mediums of visual art and, even more radically, as a vehicle for eroding the distinctions between artist and audience, and art and life. We will begin our exploration of this still nascent form of art with accessible exercises for students with no performance background and then we will build towards a final performance. Through readings and presentations, we will learn about performances that use the material of everyday life, performances that intervene in public spaces or historical narratives, the performance of pedagogy, speculative performance, identity as performance, and performance as a form of archiving.
Distribution Area: LA
Other Requirements
Open to first year undergraduates only.
