Performance Art

Many times, the first things that comes to a person's mind when they hear the words "performace art" are people moving in odd ways, or people who have been painted, or a small skit of sorts. When in reality, performance art actually involves so much more. It "can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience." Performance art has evolved through the years. The influences of many groups have shaped this type of art into what we know today. For example, the Gutai group is known for showing the beauty of something after it has been damaged or destroyed. And the work of Survival Research Laboratories is considered to be performance art even though the performers are machines. Anything and everything can be considered performance art. It is just another form of expression.

When i read about Kaprow's "activities" that we were about to perform, I wasn't sure what to expect. As we went out on the street, I was a little nervous because the activities were very strange and I wasn't sure what the whole point of them were. My group decided to do our performance in front of Starbucks, and I soon realized it wasn't really about what we were doing, it was more about other people's reaction to what we were doing. My favorite activity was the "shaking hands" activity. It was really simple, but the thought of it made me laugh. I couldn't imagine watching someone else doing that, not knowing it was meant to be performance art.