Performance Art

After doing some research on performance art I came across three female performance artist who stuck out to me the most, Marina Abramović, Carolee Schneeman, and Ana Mendieta. All three women are very well known in the world of performance art. I admire each of these women because even though they all are performance artist when it comes to their specific performance art each one of them go about it so differently. With performance art I feel as though one’s work can never truly be reproduced because no one but the original artist knows the actual feelings felt and thought process of the performance when it was originally performed.

Each of these women are pretty involved with feminist art, which was an art movement that started in the 1950s and female artist would create works that were reflected upon them personally and socially by society. A major characteristic all three use are their bodies as a means of a medium. They tend to focus on pushing the limits of the body and mind. I think using one’s body as a medium really forces the audience and viewers to really consider what is happening during the performance. In Carolee Schneeman’s performance piece Interior Scroll, Schneeman literally pulls out a scroll with a hand written inscription from her vagina that she reads aloud. By using her actual physical naked body Schneeman was able to get one of her major points across which is that women have been historically treated differently because of their biological make up and that should not be the case.

While all three are involved in feminist art they each focus on different aspects. Schneeman mainly focuses on the idea of feminism and women rights seen in media. Mendieta focuses on her personal life and experiences and how they shaped her life and Abramović focuses mostly on overall societal issues. I liked the various works I saw done by Ana Mendieta because although they are influenced by her life she seems to always include the element of nature. In many of my works whether photography or film I somehow always seem to tie in the element of nature. For me personally I view mother nature as this beautiful creation that mankind doesn’t care enough about. I also admire Marina’s works because at times her performances seem so simple but they are inspired by major issues and influence critical thinking. Rhythm 0, one of Abramović’s more known works, in which she had various objects of pleasure and pain and allowed viewers to choose between which objects to use on her. This performance in my opinion seems pretty simplistic but it showed the true intention of some people if given the chance. People want to see the good in other people and trust them but that isn’t always the case.

When it comes to the world of performance art I feel as though it isn’t as popular as it should be. Performance art isn’t something commonly heard or talked about a lot in my opinion. I’m not sure if it’s because people are scared to really open up their eyes and their minds and think critically about certain things or if people really just don’t care. I think it’s an important part of the arts because if forces viewers to see society or the world through a possible new perspective.

Works Cited

Gershman, Rachel. "Marina Abramović - Artist Overview and Analysis." TheArtStory.org,  https://www.theartstory.org/artist-Abramović-marina.htm, Accessed 03 November 2018.

Lopez, Alicia. "Ana Mendieta - Artist Overview and Analysis." TheArtStory.org, https://www.theartstory.org/artist-mendieta-ana.htm. Accessed 03 November 2018.

"Carolee Schneemann - Artist Overview and Analysis." TheArtStory.org, https://www.theartstory.org/artist-schneemann-carolee.htm. Accessed 03 November 2018.