Electives Introduction to Performance Art 16 Weeks/ 32 Hours Sara Vaqar
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Department / Programme: Liberal Arts/ Electives Course Title: Introduction to Performance Art Course Code: Credit Rating: Duration of the Course: 16 Weeks/ 32 hours Instructor: Sara Vaqar Pagganwala Course Description ‘The line between art and life should be kept as fluid, and perhaps indistinct, as possible’. – Allan Kaprow The Introduction to Performance Art provides an extensive understanding of the respective movements in its history as well as the way performance is understood today. It also demonstrates how one is able to use space, place, time and most importantly your body to produce and become your work within visual arts. We will be questioning and unpacking and repacking thoughts and philosophies regarding it as to why and what performance art has done as Roselee Goldberg puts it below, ‘ The history of performance art is integral to the history of art. It has changed the shape and direction of art history over the last 100 years, and it’s time that its extensive influence is properly understood. Throughout art history, performance ( think Futurism, Dada, Surrealism…) has been the starting point for some of the most radical ideas that have changed the way we- artists and audiences think about art… Whenever a certain school, be it Cubism, Minimalism, or conceptual art seemed to have reached an impasse, artists have turned to performance as a way of breaking down categories and indicating new directions’. Course Objectives The course aims to give students and understanding of performance art throughout its history till current day, what it is and how it is used. It seeks to encourage students to confront themselves and investigate their identities to slowly be able to apply themselves as an extension of their practice. Learning Objectives are mentioned before each project. Course expectation requires full, active participation. It will be a challenging semester, intense readings and discussions as well as having to physically perform in front of your peers. There will be trust building exercises through out the course. List of materials is given at the end of every lecture. Intended Learning Outcomes On successful completion of the course students should be able to: -Demonstrate a good understanding of the different movements that make performance art Demonstrate experimentation and inventiveness in their practice/ be able to unpack given philosophies -Demonstrate a critical awareness of bodies of knowledge inherent in other contexts -Be able to articulate specific issues and be able to identify the research or practical preparation called for by identified questions and issues in the forms of research and analysis -Personal and professional development /collaborative and /or independent professional working -Learn to use and advocate the body as an extension of the mind and as a delegate of your art Learning and Teaching Activities The course requires you to complete your projects in a timely fashion, all projects/ essays/ assignments received late will receive a grade reduction. The Critiques are just as important as the work itself. Active participation is required, keeping in mind to be constructive and helpful. Readings/power point presentations/ screenings are all an integral part of the course, make sure you do the reading before hand when required so as to be actively participating through the lecture. Where possible, there will be guest lectures and gallery visits. Course Assessment Methods 500 word Manifesto: 20% 1000 word research paper: 40% Performance: 15% Group presentation: 25% Resource / Reading List See Weekly Course Plan Assignment Briefs Write a 500 word Manifesto Write a 1000 word analytical research paper on any one particular movement, focussing on at least 3 of the artists belonging to it 10 min presentation on your research (breaking social anxieties) 10-15 min performance followed by a group critique WEEKLY COURSE PLAN Introduction to the course, outline, brief overview of what performance art is, unpacking thoughts/ ideas Class Reading: http://readingbetween.org/artwhichcantbeart.pdf Week 1 Reading for next class: Chapter 1 of Performance: Live Art Since the '60s, Roselee Goldberg Assignment 1: Bring food as a statement that best describes you. Assignment 2: Collect all ways performance is used in daily life Potluck- Food as an extension of the being/Each speaks about their food and their relevance to it. Discussion of reading, followed by slide show presentation of what performance art is, how it started, briefly going over movements to be covered. Ice breaking activities- trust circle Week 2 Discussion of assignment followed by impromptu performances, using your body. Reading for next class: http://www.arts.rpi.edu/public_html/century/MMC11/Goldberg.futuristPerf.pdf Intro to Futurism, followed by in depth study of the Futurist movement with slide show presentation. Discuss reading. Follow up by a group reading of the Futurist Manifesto: http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~crshalizi/T4PM/futurist-manifesto.html Week 3 Talk about manifestos, what they are, what they mean, their uses. Assignment for next class: write your own manifesto(500 words) Intro to Dadaism Group Reading: The Dada manifesto http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Dada_Manifesto_(1916,_Hugo_Ball) Make a Dadaist poem/Tristan Tzara Watch ABC of Dada/ Brief debate and discussion Week http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqkIJ0odFxA 4 http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=hJICH4R9n8w http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=yprAZPx5hXs Assignment for next class: write poetry, costume, 3 min performance for next class/ experimental literature Performances Intro to Surrealism/ Bauhaus Watch: - Parade by Erik Satie, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cacteau and Leonide Massine followed by discussion http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=_Chq1Ty0nyE -Les mamelles de Tirésias 03.19.11 http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=etm2MgLEamY -Relache Photomontage set to the original music, Dada/Surrealist ballet by Francis Picabia, music by Erik Satie http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=Kvc6vIWQxT8 -Salvatore Dali and Performance Art http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=qlW0IFujpog -Jet of Blood by Artaud Week http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=yYFz5_abtE8&list=PL6E5541B42C6E6A3D 5/6 To be concluded by another performance, using what you have then and there to make a human chain. Assignment for next class: select a surrealist artist from amongst the ones discussed and re-enact a surrealist meeting, you may want to bring in props! Further viewings (optional): Un Chien Andalou (1929)- Salvatore Dali L'Étoile de mer by Man Ray (1928) L'Âge d'or by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí (1930) Further readings (optional): First and Second Surrealism Manifesto by Andre Breton (1924) pg. 1-48/ 117- 194 http://new-territories.com/blog/2013GSAPP-UPENN/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Pages-de- manisfesto2.pdf Intro to Bauhaus and Constructivism Viewing of the Triadic Ballet followed by discussion http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=8c6B7VKfdW4 Group Reading on Constructivism: http://people.brunel.ac.uk/dap/BauhausConstructivism.pdf Week 6 *Bauhaus event, pick from one of the gatherings and produce your own costumes (if possible, get an extra day/ weekend to spend in true Bauhaus manner) Reading for next class: http://www.acastronovo.com/ClassHtms/ClassDocs/Goldberg06b.pdf Assignment for next class: Bring 5 pieces of newsprint sheet, masking tape and any medium of paint Introduction to Post War Performance Art Movement/ Black Mountain College/ Action Painting/ Abstract Expressionism/ Happenings Viewing and Discussion on: John Cage and his piece 4’33’’ http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=JTEFKFiXSx4 Merce Cunningham http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=jQTFZNm3dE4 18 Happenings in 6 Parts http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=FoWebd-dAaI Followed by discussion of respective artists and work as mentioned within the movements Discuss modern day examples: Week 7 Flash Mobs, Subway Parties, Pillow Fight Flash mob, Silent Disco Class activity: take newsprint and paint, using your body as a medium Further viewings (optional): http://fullyawake.org/ Assignment 1. For next class: Think of a Happening situation within university premises (if permission is given, have an interactive performance with other students) Assignment 2. For next class: bring any piece of used clothing, clothes Reading for next class: Fluxus Manifesto http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/gmaciunas-manifesto.html Intro to Fluxes Art Discuss: Performance, Land, Graffiti Art Brief intro to Neo-Dada Activity: re-enact Yoko Ono’s cut piece, make an art piece from the cuttings Week 8 Intro to Viennese Actionists View and Discuss works of Günter Brus https://slought.org/resources/primal_secretions Otto Mühl Art and Revolution, Piss Action http://www.archivesmuehl.org/acten.html Hermann Nitsch http://www.saatchigallery.com/artists/hermann_nitsch.htm Rudolf Schwarzkogler http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=649YQnVSndI Week 9 Valie Export http://www.youtube.com.s11.en.wbprx.com/watch?v=B3R2qCEFnUU Brief Intro to Auto Destructive Art: Discuss Gustav Metzger Discuss Survival Research Laboratories Reading for next class: Performance: pt.1. Identity and the self, edited by Philip Auslander http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=7XNNL6Qc3Z4C&pg=PA251&dq=feminism+in+performanc e+art&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1IF0U8zqHcu_PPDWgJgJ&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=feminism%20in% 20performance%20art&f=false pgs. 256-296 Intro to Feminism