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A Course in Performance Art
- Performing Arts Journal
- The MIT Press
- Volume 17, Number 2/3, May/September 1995 (PAJ 50/51)
- pp. 133-136
- Article
- Additional Information
A COURSE IN PERFORMANCE ART John White COURSE OBJECTIVE o be handed out at the end of the quarter only! I feel strongly that the student is to be reminded in a simple way of what they have just .Lexperienced from the instructor's viewpoint. It is a way of having students evaluate the experience and check if the instructor did the job.] I offer a class about the understanding of the performance art form. It is a hands on, conceptually based, ten-session commitment for students with some or no previous knowledge or experience with the history of this rather new art form. I teach it with several things in mind. Primarily, that the art form's roots come from the visual and plastic arts disciplines rather than the performing arts (i.e., theatre, dance). Within the last decade, these traditional categories have blended to expand the form, making it a contemporary tool for expression. Not coincidentally, it has become more accessible to a general audience. I also encourage an autobiographical structure to ensure a non-derivative approach to the construction of a performance work. The result of this format usually produces works of a more political, social inclination than a formal one. I discourage the use of the proscenium arch as a primary physical structure and introduce the notion of alternative spaces. I do this to generate specific actions and specific ideas within a specific site. This teaches situational aesthetics so students can tailor works for any type of venue. This approach away from the proscenium is suggested to illustrate the understanding of this form as synonymous with recent painting and sculpture patterns where the stretcher bar support and the sculpture pedestal has completely been eliminated as the primary structure and is now only one of many choices the artist has for venues to present art. After five sessions of intense experimentation with solo and collaborative projects, the class creates pieces for the visiting artist segment of the course. E 133 Two or three performance artists (one per weekly session) are invited to observe and critique student works. These "visitors" also bring fresh examples of their work and field questions from the class. In the 9th session, the class begins preparations for a performance art event which is their final exam. The preparation is a week in duration and the class members get first-hand experiences in directing, producing, set-making, lighting, and rehearsal procedures. Mailers and a program are designed and the UCI [University of California at Irvine] community and the general public are invited to attend. A guest artist (e.g., a former student now working professionally) also performs on the evening program. When the performance event is over, a reception is held and the class sits on "stage" and answers questions from the audience. The 10th session is called a "one on one" day and each student meets with me privately to recap his or her involvement and discuss issues pertinent to themselves and their art. AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TEXT [An example of writing your autobiographical text to be used as a source for performance and installation work.] In 1956 I was planning to be a professional golfer. I practiced daily at Harding Park golf course in San Francisco. The 12th hole was the most difficult for our foursome. It was a par 5 near the edge of the course; the feature of the hole was a high wire fence that ran the length of the hole. This created great psychological hazards for golfers to concentrate on hitting their balls straight. Inevitably this would produce errant tee shots that would hook over the fence into a small triangle of grass. Acme John was an old bum who slept under the hedge near the triangle. We nicknamed him Acme because he was always drinking Acme beer. One way he made money was to wait for the errant shots to come over the fence, gather the balls, use his spit to clean them up, then try to resell them to us through the fence. "Hey buddy, ya wanna buy some balls?" "How much?" "Real cheap ... two bits for one or 3 for $.50." "Lemme see them." Our foursome would...