The most extravagant performances: Playing a burning instrument, dialogue with a hare and others

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

It is possible that non-extravagant performances do not exist, because the very idea of this type of art is to violate the framework - the pictorial space of the picture, the personal border of a person and, in the end, finding the limit of rationality. Most likely, to viewers who are not familiar with avant-garde and conceptual art, many of these performances will seem too exotic, but one cannot be taken away from these performances, they always attract attention and make them empathize, which, in the end, is the goal of any creativity.

Concert "with a twinkle"

In July 2019, an extraordinary performance took place on the shores of the Gulf of Finland: a blind musician performed a work by Max Richter on a burning piano. Danila Bolshakov has been directing the orchestra of blind musicians for several years, and the video recorded at such an unusual concert was supposed to be the first video on his new YouTube channel. The musician himself explained the meaning of the performance as follows:. When asked how the performance went, he answered briefly:

For all its eccentricity, this idea is far from the performances that have become classics of avant-garde art today. The performances from the luminaries look much more sophisticated.

Taking care of nature

German artist Joseph Beuys, one of the main theorists of postmodernism, shocked the public in the middle of the 20th century with the complex symbolism of his works. The main theme of his work was the relationship between man of the technogenic era and dying nature. For example, during a performance in an art gallery in 1965, the artist covered his head with honey and gold foil and explained to a dead hare the meaning of some modern paintings.

And in 1974 Boyce flew to New York to carry out the most famous of his "actions" (although the word "madness" would be more useful here than ever). For three days, the postmodern master lived in complete isolation in the same room with a wild coyote, wrapped in a felt blanket. The animal showed moderate interest in him, especially when the artist tried to show him some symbolic figures (for example, a triangle). At the end of the allotted time, Boyce hugged the coyote and flew home. All the way between the airport and the room, he did it on a stretcher and in an ambulance car so that his foot did not touch American soil: - the artist then explained this originality. This action is the most striking in his work and is called "I like America and America loves me."

Cut off the excess from John Lennon's girlfriend

Unlike static art, performance is a small performance, often interactive. It implies a certain process, the results of which are difficult to program immediately. So, Yoko Ono explored the depths of the human subconscious, at the same time creating the canons of conceptual art. How to express a thought without putting it into physical form? If you are very angry with humanity, you can, for example, give a person freedom, thus showing his limitations. In her famous performance "Cut a Piece", the artist took the stage in her best dress and invited the audience to come up to her one by one to cut off a piece of her clothes. Yoko performed such an action several times - in the 1960s, in different countries, it caused an ambiguous reaction from viewers, from benevolent to aggressive. In 2003, Yoko Ono repeated this performance in Paris as a call for peace, commemorating the events of September 11, 2001. In an interview, the elderly artist explained her performance as follows:

The heavy burden of art

A similar theme was developed in her work by a woman who, for her many years of loyalty to her principles in art, was called the “grandmother of performance”. Serbian artist Marina Abramovic almost always made observers participants in the action, focusing on "the confrontation of pain, blood and the physical limits of the body." For example, in 2010 Marina performed a 3-month performance. For 7-10 hours a day, a woman sat absolutely motionless at a table in a huge hall and allowed everyone who wanted to sit opposite and look at her. Such an unusual "exhibit" attracted crowds of people to the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan. Among the participants who "played at the goggles" were celebrities: Matthew Barney, Bjork and Lady Gaga.

However, Marina's most famous action was “Rhythm 0”. In 1974, Abramovich placed 72 objects on the table that people could use in any way, and provided them with her passive body for any action. This turned out to be the hardest test for the avant-garde artist:

Read about how the Serbian artist continues to shock the public in the review: The life and death of Marina Abramovich - a new performance in the old theater.