@February 26, 2017

Performance art uses the body as a canvas for artistic expression and conveying ideas. The main difference between this medium and theater, is that performance and body art's purpose is not for entertainment. Just as computer art and photography became a new canvas, so did performance.

Meat Joy 1964 by Carolee Schneemann has always been my all-time favorite. It starts off with multiple men and women dancing together in their undergarments. They end up falling on top of one another, and raw poultry, sausage, and fish is thrown onto them. The people play with the food, some of them stuffing it into their undergarments. The men and women sensually roll around together, eating the meat instead of kissing. Some figures cradle the meat in fetal position, rocking back and forth. They later get covered in wet paint, the women having plastic to cover their hair. In the end, all the figures are carried into a giant pile of pile of paper or trash. The entire performance has a voice in the background listing off what is happening, as well as other activities such as smoking a cigarette. This piece is considered body art because of the intense focus on male and female bodies. This piece dehumanizes humans and compares them to meat. Although humans may see themselves as superior to what they eat, they all all the same in the end. Meat gets thrown away and turns into trash and dust, just as people. Through all the pleasures in life, such as eating, sex and smoking, it will eventually end. People and animals receive the same fate.

Beuy was extremely inspiring to watch and listen to. In his performance, How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare 1965, he is shown cradling and playing with a dead hare. Beuy’s face is covered in honey and gold. The honey symbolizes life and communication; Bees spend their whole lives working together to create this substance. The gold could be seen as a symbol for the sun; it reflects the light it receives. There is metal on one of his feet, which could be seen as a conductor of invisible energies. On his other foot, there is felt. At a desperate time in Beuy’s life, he was rescued by nomads who wrapped him in felt to help him warm up. The felt in How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare could be representing protection and healing. Beuy tries to convey the message that humans have the ability to communicate with nature, although there is a lack of a loving relationship. Hares are vital to our survival. We need oxygen to breath, just as the forest needs animals to maintain fertility. He wants his audience to understand his message by using their creativity and ignoring logistics.

Marina Abramovic, sometimes described as the “grandmother of performance art,” focuses on endurance and the subconscious. The performance that really gets to me is Rhythm 0 1974. She has an instructional sheet that reads, “Instructions: There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. Performance. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility. Duration: 6 hours” (Abramovic).  The audience was not required to do anything to her, they were simply given permission. At first the crowd is calm, somebody places a rose in her hand and people write on her body. As the performance progresses, so does the energy of the people around her. The thorns from the roses are pressed into her body, her throat is cut with a razor blade, her clothes are ripped off and eventually a gun is pointed at her head. Disturbingly, this piece successfully demonstrates the subconscious effect when something is objectified. It also demonstrates mob mentality and group energy.