performance art
Body as medium
Performance art is a form of artistic expression presented live before an audience, typically combining elements of visual art, theater, music, or dance.
Unlike traditional theater, it often lacks a conventional narrative and may involve the artist's own body as medium: The piece involved the artist sitting motionless for hours while viewers watched.
Performance art emerged in the mid-20th century and tends toward the experimental, provocative, or conceptual.
The term sometimes carries a whiff of pretension: Is standing in a gallery covered in honey really art?
Decoration of human skin
- physicalityBodily, material quality
- corporealHaving physical existence
- self-inflictedCaused by oneself
- vulnerabilityOpenness to harm
pain · stamina · presence · flesh · skin · breath · movement · stillness
Wordless expressive performer
- pantomimeDrama through gesture alone
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- gestureCommunicative body movement
- monologueUninterrupted solo address
dramatization · storytelling · characterization · enactment · portrayal · interpretation · projection · emoting
Tied to one location
- installationProcess of putting in
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
- spaceUnoccupied area or interval
gallery · street · public · venue · duration · props · multimedia · video
Act of taking part
- audience engagementHow involved spectators become
- immersiveFully engaging the senses
- happeningEvent in progress
- collaborationJoint intellectual work
relational · dialogue · call-and-response · workshop · facilitation · co-creation · spectator · inclusion
Absurdist artistic rebellion
- happeningsThings that take place
- experimentalTesting new methods
- conceptualOf or relating to ideas
- vanguardForemost position or group
Yoko Ono · innovative · nonconformist · anti-art · intermedia · postmodern · radical · subversive
Violating accepted boundaries
- shockViolent sudden disturbance
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
- censorshipOfficial content restriction
nudity · confrontational · subversion · political · feminist · activism · protest · disruption
body art
Decoration of human skin
- physicalityBodily, material quality
- corporealHaving physical existence
- self-inflictedCaused by oneself
vulnerability · pain · stamina · presence · flesh · skin · breath · movement · stillness · exhaustion
mime
Wordless expressive performer
- pantomimeDrama through gesture alone
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- gestureCommunicative body movement
monologue · dramatization · storytelling · characterization · enactment · portrayal · interpretation · projection · emoting · physicalization
site-specific
Tied to one location
- installationProcess of putting in
- ephemeralLasting very briefly
- documentationWritten proof or instructions
space · gallery · street · public · venue · duration · props · multimedia · video · sound
participation
Act of taking part
- audience engagementHow involved spectators become
- immersiveFully engaging the senses
- happeningEvent in progress
collaboration · relational · dialogue · call-and-response · workshop · facilitation · co-creation · spectator · inclusion · communal
Dadaism
Absurdist artistic rebellion
- happeningsThings that take place
- experimentalTesting new methods
- conceptualOf or relating to ideas
Yoko Ono · vanguard · innovative · nonconformist · anti-art · intermedia · postmodern · radical · subversive · countercultural
transgressive
Violating accepted boundaries
- shockViolent sudden disturbance
- tabooCultural or social prohibition
- controversyProlonged public disagreement
censorship · nudity · confrontational · subversion · political · feminist · activism · protest · disruption · intervention
drama
Theatrical art or turmoil
actor · costume · character · narrative · scene · blocking · stage · curtain · backstage · audience
- art termspainting, sculpture, drawing, portrait, landscape
- art formspainting, drawing, sculpture, photography, music
- artscreativity, expression, songs, painting, sculpting
- creative artsvisual art, drawing, painting, abstract art, illustration
- fine artsfine art, fine arts, painting, visual arts, sculpture
- performing artsacting, dance, music, drama, theater
performance artpainting
Pigment on canvas
sculpture · canvas art · oil painting · bronze sculpture · photography
performance artmuseum pieces
Objects in exhibit collections
film · video art · studio art
performance artcommercial art
Visual work for profit
decorative art · collectible art · art object · kitsch · advertising
artist, performance, performer, performing, performed, performs, nonperformance, performative, underperformance