Goldberg, RoseLee

London; New York: Thames & Hudson. 2001, 232 pp. World of Art series, 186 illus. ISBN: 0-500-20339-3

Revised and updated version of the book first published by Thames & Hudson in 1988 (see ABM 20 10467 for abstract), on the history of performance art in the 20th century. The author considers the political, technological and aesthetic changes which have marked the past 20 years of the medium, explains its popularity among artists addressing the themes of identity, globalism and multiculturalism, and discusses the work of individual artists from Futurists and Dadaists to current-day exponents, including Mariko Mori, Paul McCarthy, Matthew Barney, Laurie Anderson, and Forced Entertainment.

Mateer, John

Art Monthly Australia, no. 166, Dec. 2003, pp. 41-3, (4 colour)

Discusses the arts festival National Review of Live Art held at the Midland Railway Workshops in Perth, Australia (22-26 Oct. 2003). The author argues that live art has a fluid rather than a historical tradition, notes the importance of the body in live art, and discusses the success of the Walk with Me Walk with Me Will Somebody Please Walk with Me (2003) by the performance duo lone twin. Other artists and artists' groups whose work featured in the review include: Chandrasekaran, Alastair MacLennan, Angelika Oei, R. A. Verouden, Hideyuki Sawayanahi, Bobby Baker, Mary Brennan, Tim Etchells, Richard Layzell, Nikki Milican, Lyndal Jones, Mark Minchinton, Sarah Jane Pell, Rose Dennis, Domenico De Clario, Cat Hope, Perdita Phillips, Gregory Pryor, Rose Williams, cAVity, the Tissue Culture & Art Project.

Croft, Susan; MacDonald, Claire

Women's Art Magazine (U.K.), no. 57, March-April 1994, pp. 9-12, 4 illus. bibliog

Examines the renewed interest in feminist performance practice which makes direct reference to the body. The authors study developments in this genre since the 1970s and summarize the critical discourse on the use of the body in art and the politics of feminine representation. They discuss the influence of performance on other art practices and suggest that strategies for performance art during the 1970s and 1980s were absorbed into popular culture. They conclude by noting that there has been a renewed interest in the aspects of theatre and spectacle of performance, which has begun to incorporate a wider range of disciplines.

Palmer, Judith

Artists Newsletter (U.K.) Aug. 1996, pp. 7-9, 3 illus.

Discusses the current resurgence in performance art based on the body. The author considers the work of artists including Stelarc, Orlan, Franko B., Ron Athey, Ulay, Marina Abramovic, and Karen Finley, and draws parallels between the Conceptual art of the 1970s and body art in the 1990s. She comments on the significance of blood, religious iconography, and pain in the work of Franko B and Athey, noting that both artists are sado-masochists, and speculates on the psychological damage to performance art audiences who may feel partially responsible for, and in some cases actively participate in causing, the pain endured by the artists. The author observes that the impact of performances such as Stelarc's suspensions is out of proportion to the size of the audience, suggesting that it may not be necessary for artists to actually carry out their performances, and concludes by exploring the relationship between body art, technology and death.

Lyotard, Jean Francois

MINNEAPOLIS: UNIV MINNESOTA PR, 1984.

Turim, Maureen

Camera Obscura, no. 54, 2003, pp. 98-117, 3 illus. bibliog

Discusses the work of the Yugoslavian performance artist Marina Abramovic. The author notes how self-flagellation is linked to eating in the performance Thomas Lips (1975), compares this with the film Je tu il elle (1974) by Chantal Akerman, and considers the artist in terms of Freudian ideas of moral masochism. She argues for the graphic tension of a performance such as Rest Energy (1979), suggests that museum visitors become performers in works such as Green Dragon Lying, Red Dragon Sitting, Head Resting on the Quartz Pillow Looking Straight Ahead and Head Resting on the Quartz Pillow Looking Up, and discusses psychoanalytical elements in Balkan Baroque and Cleaning the Mirror I, II, and III (1995). She comments on the influence of diverse artists such as Maya Deren, Antoni Artaud, Georges de La Tours, and Van Eyck, examines the figure of the artist in Luminosity, Dissolution, and Rhythm 4 (1974), and explores how Abramovic critiques Christian ideas of the body.

Shilling, Chris

vii+232pp, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1993

This 9-Chpt book, published as part of the Theory, Culture, & Society series (Mike Featherstone, series editor), offers a critical analysis of the new sociological literature on the body, treating such issues as sexuality & bodily image, developments in genetic engineering, the role of the body in consumer culture, & a range of theories of the body. (1) Introduction - discusses the aims of the book, reviews recent empirical & theoretical research, & argues that the body is best conceived as an unfinished biological & social phenomenon that is transformed by engagement with society. (2) The Body in Sociology - presents an exploration of the body's dual status in sociology, traces the emergence of the body as an object of sociological study, & contends that the development of second wave feminism & changes in the structure of advanced capitalist societies are responsible for the new focus on the body. (3) The Naturalistic Body - analyzes naturalistic views of the body (eg, sociobiology, the works of Thomas Laqueur, feminist theory) that conceptualize it as the biological ground on which the superstructure of society depends. (4) The Socially Constructed Body - critically assesses constructionist theories of the body, focusing on the anthropology of Mary Douglas, the works of social historians, Michel Foucault's treatment of the body, & the studies of Erving Goffman. (5) The Body and Social Inequalities - argues for a synthesis of the naturalistic & constructionist paradigms, & maintains that the works of Bob Connell & Peter Freund can be used to overcome the mind/body & nature/culture divisions that characterize & problematize the literature on the body. (6) The Body and Physical Capital - offers a critical evaluation of Pierre Bourdieu's understanding of how the body has become commodified in modern societies, & suggests that Bourdieu's work offers many insights useful for the development of a general theory of the body. (7) The Civilized Body - examines the central role of the body in Norbert Elias's theory of the civilizing process, arguing that his treatment of the body marks an improvement over both the constructionist & naturalistic views. (8) The Body, Self-Identity and Death - brings together the book's central theses via an investigation of the relationship between death, the body, & self-identity in high modernity. (9) Concluding Comments - recapitulates in condensed form the main conclusions of the book, & makes a case for the body as a focal concern of sociologists. 2 Figures, 519 References. W. Howard.

McGrath, John Edward

TDR: The Drama Review: A Journal of Performance Studies, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 21-38, Summer 1995.

Hooks, Bell [author]

Discusses the social conditions affecting African-American women in the U.S. A German translation is cited as RILM 1996-9743.

Goldberg, RoseLee; (foreword by) Anderson, Laurie

London: Thames and Hudson. 1998, 240 pp. 322 illus. (123 colour) ISBN: 0-500-01875-8

Traces the evolution of performance art since the 1960s, with reference to the anarchism which established it as an avant-garde art form. The author discusses performance art in relation to themes such as politics, reality, feminism, multiculturalism, and the body, explores different media such as video and the spoken word, and examines the work of artists who have experimented with performance, including Yves Klein, Piero Manzoni, Joseph Beuys, Meredith Monk, Pina Bausch, Matthew Barney, Gilbert and George, Mona Hatoum, and Laurie Anderson.

Smith, Caroline

Creative Camera (U.K.), no. 343, Dec. 1996-Jan. 1997, pp. 8-11, 5 illus.

Examines what the author considers to be utopian claims about the value of the Internet as a means of uniting and communicating with the rest of the world, with reference to the planned exhibition of Internet art works at Documenta 10 in Kassel, Germany (1997). She observes that the Internet was established in the West and is still dominated by Western culture and technology, noting that large parts of the world still have no access to it. She cites contributions to the fifth Cyberconf conference on the Internet, including the artist and academic Olu Oguibe's suggestion that it reinforces the existence of a global underclass, and a performance work by the Mexican-born artist Guillermo Gomez-Pena, which satirized stereotypical prejudices common on the Internet. She also comments on Internet projects by the artists Indika Perera and Simon Tegala.

Gioni, Massimiliano (Interviewer)

Third Text (U.K.), no. 47, Summer 1999, pp. 51-7, bibliog

In interview, Olu Oguibe discusses the Internet as a force for international cultural change and exchange. Oguibe outlines the potential of the Internet to help create a new world order by empowering developing countries through their ability to contribute to the development of computer technologies but also acknowledges the possibility that such countries are likely to fall behind the West as consumers of those technologies. He rejects the notion that the Internet represents a virtual world that contrasts with the real one, positioning it as a real tool that can be used to effect change in the real world. He insists that the Internet and similar global technologies do not undermine the concept of geography, but actually reinforce the importance of location. He refutes the interviewer's suggestion that the Internet provides the visitor with a safe means of negotiating the world, arguing that its content reflects the diversity of urban life and that encounters with, for example, racist sites, are inevitable. He describes cyberspace currently as occupied by peoples of all races, and as being culturally so structured that the notion of other is not relevant. He cites examples of sites constructed as memorials to human struggles and suffering, and considers whether, on the whole, the Internet promotes power structures or human emancipation.

Said, E. W.

1985. 368pp.

Rowe, Dorothy

Art History (U.K.), vol. 26, no. 3, June 2003, pp. 456-73, 5 illus. bibliog

In a special issue dedicated to the role of `difference' within the practice of selected women artists, discusses the experimental work of the artist-led performance group moti-roti, founded by Keith Khan. The author summarizes the ambitions and multicultural membership of this London-based collective dedicated to the exploration of racial and gender identities, and focuses on the multimedia project Wigs of Wonderment (1995; illus.) commissioned within the context of a season devoted to the critical writings of Frantz Fanon (1925-61) at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London, entitled Mirage: Enigmas of Race, Difference and Desire (1995). She describes its various live manifestations, during which audience members are individually led through several spaces animated through light, sounds and smells to experience diverse beauty treatments or performances, and draws upon the theoretical writings of Judith Butler and Homi Bhabha to analyse the performative strategies played out in each space and each section of its electronic version - `Hair', `Make-up', `Stance', `Perfume', and `Garden' - in order to disrupt racial and cultural stereotyping, and to expose the fragility of identification.

Anton, Saul

Frieze (U.K.), no. 72, Jan.-Feb. 2003, pp. 68-9, (6 colour) + figs

Discusses the work of the Lebanon-born, U.S.A.-based artist Walid Ra'ad. The author describes Ra'ad's film project Hostage: The Bachar Tapes (2001; col. illus.), which features a fictional hostage relating the details of his confinement, and reports on Raad's foundation of the `imaginary' cultural research organization the Atlas Group, whose archives contain invented historical documents. He highlights the presentation of two of Ra'ad's works at Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany (2002), examines his video I Think It Would Be Better if I Could Weep, and explores the concept of the Atlas Group in the light of theories by the philosopher Walter Benjamin.