Performa
A selection of documentation of New York's first ever performance Biennale, hosted by a huge range of venues primarily in commercial art galleries and alternative spaces accross the city during November. Brought together by the passionate doyen of performative practice, veteran historian and curator Rosalee Goldberg, the biennale boasted a huge roster of artists making events and contributions. Over three weeks more than twenty venues featured the work of over ninety artists. Roberta Smith, critic of the New York Times made this point:
"The phenomenon of performance art dates back at least to World War I and the days of Dada and the Cafe Voltaire in Zurich. Since then, artists have regularly used it to torpedo the status, definition and market value of art, while in many cases capitalizing on their own magnetic stage presences, sonorous voices or good looks in ways that predate modernity if not art....But performance art has been plagued throughout its history by its basic ephemerality. Like choreography or art exhibitions, it is a disappearing art form, even in these days of video and virtual reality. Once it is over, it is gone, and as a result, it tends to be omitted from history. The events in and around Performa 05 constitute a strike against that disappearing."
Transmissions took footage of a selection of the events that consitute this ambitious series which, rather than curated with an overall thesis or structure, was brought together under the Performa mantle but bourne out of the freedom of independently conceived projects by the participating organisations.
Credits
Image capture: Zachary Landsberg and Charles Harlan.
Film editing: Jeremy Valender and Mehrdad Arta
Thanks: Carol Bove
Selected Links
http://www.performa-arts.org/
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