“The term Contemporary Performance is used to describe hybrid performance works and artists that travel between the fields of Experimental Theatre & Dance, Video Art, Visual Art, Music Composition and Performance Art without adhering to one specific field’s practice” (Manson 2011)
The art of Contemporary Experimental Performance is built of multiple sub-genres, all progressive of Avant Garde Theatre- a liberating style of theatre focusing on pushing the boundaries and straying from the ‘norms’ of society. “The aim was to be reflexive, presentational rather than representational, and to situate the audience as participants rather than as spectators.” (Shepherd 2006, p. 83)
Through our devised contemporary performance we aim to initially pose the following questions to our audience through experimentation and inquisition..
When does something become performance?
Is everything we do performance?
Where does performance exist?
Why are you having this memory?
Can performance be experienced through different senses?
How are our bodies used for performance?
These questions may change as our devising process continues, but we are extremely interested in exploring the uses of headphones, music, and the concept of architectural headspace.
Modernism
An art form utterly modern through feeling, thought, concept and practise, Modernism led to the genre of Postmodernism, an overcoming of modernity. Originated from Western society in the late 19th/early 20th century, it formed a foundation for many future sub-genres to develop.
Futurism
Its history starting in 1909, “early Futurist performance was more manifesto than practise, more propaganda than actual production.” (Goldberg 2001, p 11) Futurism enabled artists to be both creators and art objects, both developing new forms of theatre and stemming off into poetry or painting, for example. Marinetti, the founder of the Futuristic movement, is best known for his manifesto published in Paris, where he declared art is nothing but violence. He used his manifestos to declare his opinions on theatre within the world we live in, proof of the quote above “more propaganda than actual production.” (Goldberg 2001, p 11)
Dadaism
Dadaism as a theatrical form initiated in Zurich, was born out of negative attitudes stemming from WW1. Anti-bourgeois, and with emphasis on the visual arts, literature and poetry, Dadaism is notoriously linked to both anti-war politics and the eccentric and infamous work of Franklin Wedekind. His work shocked and interested, “he would even urinate and masturbate on stage,” (Goldberg 2001, p. 50) and resulted in his exile from Paris and “several months in prison for censorship violation. (Goldberg 2001, p. 50)
Surrealism
Developed and also destructed from Dadaism, Surrealism surfaced in the 1920s. Surrealism’s best known performance is from Tzara, who read a vulgar newspaper article out as a poem, the performance ended in uproar. It constitutes of unexpected juxtaposition and an element of surprise, with Shepherd and Wallis’ theory stating that “Surrealists had attempted to realise art but without negating it.” (Shepherd 2006, p. 94)
Postmodernism
Postmodernism originated in the 1950s as a reaction the Modernist theatre movement. Michael Benamou states “three basic ways in which various senses of performance characterise postmodernity,” (Shepherd 2006, p. 134) as “the dramatisation of life by the media, the theatrical playfulness of art, and a focus on performance in the sense of technological efficiency.” (Shepherd 2006, p. 134)
We will take elements of each of these sub-genres, and the various practitioners and theatre companies we will study to produce a piece of experimental work, continuously pushing boundaries and questioning the norm as we do so.
Caitlin Clark and Rebecca Ward.
WORKS CITED
Goldberg, Rose Lee (2001) Performance Art From Futurism to the Present, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Manson, Caden (2011) How do you define contemporary performance, Online: http://contemporaryperformance.org/forum/topics/how-do-you-define-contemporary Accessed: 25 October 2012
Shepherd, Simon and Wallis, Mick (2006) Drama/Theatre/Performance, Oxon: Routledge