Performance Art & Intermedia
In this course, the body is the medium. Students will explore the history and practice of Performance Art, from the endurance works of Abramović to the multimedia experiments of Fluxus. The curriculum investigates the blurring lines between visual art, theater, and ritual, teaching students how to use time, presence, and technology to create live “Intermedia” events.
§ 01 By the end you can
- Analyze the history of Body Art, Happenings, and Fluxus
- Use the physical body as a tool for endurance, gesture, and narrative
- Integrate technology: Live feed video, bio-sensors, and projection
- Understand the role of "Documentation": Photography and Video as the artifact
- Critique the relationship between performer and audience (Participation)
§ 02 Sixteen sessions
The whole semester.
- 01Origins: Dada, Futurism, & Bauhaus
- 02The 1960s: Happenings & Fluxus
- 03Body Art: Burden, Abramović, & Acconci
- 04Presence & Charisma: The Performer's Tool
- 05Scripting the Unscripted: Scores & Instructions
- 06Audience Participation: Breaking the Fourth Wall
- 07Props & Objects: Relational Aesthetics
- 08 · MidtermMidterm Examination
- 09Endurance Art: Time & The Body
- 10Ritual & Repetition
- 11Intermedia: Mixing Sound, Video, & Performance
- 12Telepresence & Digital Performance
- 13The Politics of the Body: Gender & Identity
- 14Documentation: Preserving the Ephemeral
- 15Site-Specific Performance
- 16Final Project: The Live Intermedia Event
Midterm around session 8. Final project briefed at session 8 or 9 and developed in stages until the juries.
§ 03 Final project
Final Project: The Live Intermedia Event
Recommended reading
- Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present by RoseLee Goldberg
- The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry
- Artificial Hells: Participatory Art and the Politics of Spectatorship by Claire Bishop
- Perform, Repeat, Record: Live Art in History by Amelia Jones
- Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present (Catalog/Film)
More in Performing Arts
| Choreography | Movement is a language. This course explores the art of designing motion for stage and screen. While grounded in dance, the curriculum expands to include "Blocking" for actors and "Choreography for Camera" (Screendance). |
| Theatre | This course introduces students to the fundamentals of theatre, including acting, stagecraft, play analysis, and performance techniques. |