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Video:What Is Performance Art?

with Shelley Esaak

Want to learn where performance art originated and how to developed? Here, see informative facts about performance art.

Transcript:What Is Performance Art?

The term "Performance Art" got its start in the 1960s in the United States. It was originally used to describe any live artistic event that included poets, musicians, film makers, etc. - in addition to visual artists.

History of Performance Art

By 1970, Performance Art was a global term, and its definition a bit more specific. "Performance Art" meant that it was live, and it was art, not theater. Performance Art also meant that it was art that could not be bought, sold or traded as a commodity.

Information About Performance Art

Since the beginning of the 1980s, Performance Art has increasingly incorporated technological media into pieces.Performance Art is live. Performance Art has no rules or guidelines. It is experimental. Performance Art is not for sale. It may, however, sell admission tickets and film rights. Performance Art may be comprised of painting or sculpture, dialogue, poetry, music, dance, opera, film footage, turned on television sets, laser lights, live animals and fire.

Additional Facts About Performance Art

Performance Art is a legitimate artistic movement. It has longevity and is a degreed course of study in many post-secondary institutions.Dada, Futurism, the Bauhaus and the Black Mountain College all inspired and helped pave the way for Performance Art. Performance Art is closely related to Conceptual Art. Both Fluxus and Body Art are types of Performance Art.

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