by John Paglia | Tue Mar, 2023 | Art History and Theory, Paglia
Straying from the traditional, strict, and classical forms of Kabuki and Nōh theater emerged Butoh. Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno founded this new style of dance, two individuals heavily influenced by postmodernist ideas. Initially associated with the Tokyo underground arts scene, Butoh derives its name from the combination of bu, meaning dance, and toh, meaning step. Characterized by slow arrhythmic movements, performers are usually covered head-to-to in white body paint, representing the purity of the soul. Often described as being in a trance-like state, Butoh performers embody slow, careful movements in their performances.
by Elizabeth Chatham | Mon Feb, 2023 | Art History and Theory, Chatham
Tania Bruguera (b. 1968 in Havana Cuba) is an activist and performance artist at the forefront of “activist art”. In the creation process, she builds models based on social practice–specifically those relating to immigration, censorship and identity–which...
by Elizabeth Chatham | Wed Jan, 2023 | Art History and Theory, Chatham
Ana Mendiete was a Cuban-American Performance Artist, Sculptor, Painter, Photographer and Video Artist. She was born in 1948 in Havana, Cuba and died in 1985, while married to sculptor Carl Andre in the last year of her life. At the age of 12, after her father joined...
by Elif Baysak | Thu Oct, 2022 | Art History and Theory, Baysak
Born Watraud Lehner in 1940, the Austrian performance artist abandoned her predetermined identity by creating her own, on her terms. Her self-determined name served as a manifesto and a logo, written only in capital letters to announce her presence: VALIE EXPORT....
by Elif Baysak | Thu Oct, 2022 | Art History and Theory, Baysak
The mosaic absurdity that is My Onliness—the child of One-Eighth Theater, IRT Theater, and New Ohio Theater—is an avant-garde experience to say the least. The spirit of the Polish playwright, painter, and philosopher Stanislaw Witkacy, a precursor to the Theater of...
by Elif Baysak | Fri Sep, 2022 | Art History and Theory, Baysak
To recite the eloquent reflection of Christopher Innes, avant-garde describes “What is new at any given time: the leading edge of artistic experiment, which is continually outdated by the next step forward”. The word leading is suiting as the word’s origin is rooted...
