Performance art is a radical art form derived from DADA, the modern art movement designed to shock its audience. Its artworks share a conceptual phenomenon rather than a commonality of techniques or disciplines and cannot be bought or sold. Often, these temporary sorts of artworks require an audience’s reaction for its completion. The audience and artwork interact, developing its conceptual strength in many ways, thus a certain demand is placed on the audience by the artist. Such artists and their works include, Yves Klein‘s “The Monotone Symphony” – 1960, Jill Orr’s “She Had Long Golden Hair” – 1980 and Marina Abramovic and Ulay’s “Imponderabilia” – 1977.

Yves Klein, born in France, was drawn to limitless blue expanses of the sky and sea. His performance “The Monotone Symphony” consisted of three nude female models who painted themselves in IKB paint and pressed their bodies against paper while a ten piece orchestra played one monotonous note for twenty minutes, followed by another twenty minutes of silence. Klein conducted but never touched any paint or models. The crowd of people dressed in formal black attire willingly froze themselves during the period of silence and in that moment everyone disappeared into their own meditational space, sharing an understanding of the artwork’s phenomenon. The artist had placed a demand on the audience by relying on their reaction to create sensual vibes in the atmosphere that complimented his performance. Without an audience, he would not have been able to create such connections through the stimulation of sight and hearing senses. Performance art values its audience just as much as the performance itself. The audience’s specific dress code of formal black attire and their act of watching and listening to the performance were elements they had to proceed to. Therefore we see how Klein had placed demands upon audience members in a way that made his structured and planned performance feel whole.

Similarly to Yves Klein, Jill Orr engaged her audience effectively in her performance, “She Had Long Golden Hair” – 1980. Although in contrast, she used her body as the site of performance in addition to being a ‘director’ of the audience. The work consisted of herself having her hair suspended from the ceiling by chains as she called upon members of the audience to come forward and cut it close to her head. Orr describes herself as a sculptor in many dimensions’ and believes that provoking a response from the viewer is what performance art should be doing. Her work sets a particular demand on its viewers so as to complete her performance and achieve the full potential of its symbolic value. The artist – audience interaction produces a stronger message about feminism. As an abusive male voice plays in the background, the public’s act of cutting her hair is symbolic of freeing her from her femineity, yet the audience is left to expand on this idea as the soundtrack continues to play, - “Things have not changed. It will be the same again.” Orr believes it is important for a performance to send a message although there may be different interpretations. She aims to raise the viewer’s level of awareness about issues, and in doing so, includes their actions as part of her artwork. She physically demands individuals from the audience to be a part of her performance. The public’s interactions carry the responsibility of completing Orr’s narrative, developing the concept of how society as a whole had the ability to free women of their feminine stereotypes. Without Orr’s commands to her viewers, she would not have been able to complete the narrative in her work and the performance’s meaning could have been completely altered by the audience’s perspective.

Lastly, Marina Abramovic and Ulay’s, “Imponderablilia” – 197 displays a strong example as to how performance artists directly place demands on their audience. The pair of artists stood nude like guards at the doorway of a gallery, becoming a part of the architectural space. They created a complex situation for the public members whom planned to enter the gallery. The performers threw upon the audience the demand of having to choose which person to face, that is, if they decided to enter at all due to the extreme intimacy they must have encountered. This decision challenges the public’s attitudes about sexuality, gender and the body image. Without an audience, this demand cannot be put into effect and the whole idea of this uncomfortable atmosphere is depleted. The more viewers encounter the demand of having to decide their actions, the more the performance thrives. The differences and similarities of how people make their choices, as a whole, represent a part of humanity. Such a notion is seen as it is recorded that more people chose to face Abramovic than Ulay. This perhaps may be due to the less daunting feeling felt by facing a woman than a man and this aspect itself tells something of the human mind. Thus we see that performance artwork relies heavily on an audience to react to it as their reaction is the art. Thus we see how “Imponderabilia” had set a high demand for its viewers as well as expressing the importance of these demands.

In reflection of Yves Klein, Jill Orr and Marina Abramovic and Ulay’s performances, it is made evident that the audience, and even more importantly, their reactions are valued just as equally, if not more than the artists’ physical performance. Audiences have the ability to add a whole new level of conceptual strength to the artwork simply by interacting. Their inclusion and engagement is encouraged by artists in a way that places demands on them. Whether it is the viewer’s reaction, ability to listen, watch or feel or an action they inflict, all these elements harmoniously complete a performance art piece.