Since the 1960s, performance art continues to represent a genre of experimental art in the form of an “event,” which highlights the “here and now” of the site. The actions of the artist that instigates the event, along with the participation of the viewers who witness and interact, consist the core element of a performance. However, all of these elements vanish as the performance concludes, only leaving their traces in time through memory and experience. Such temporary and immaterial nature of performance art simultaneously embraces the value that is grounded in the fleeting essence of time, as much as it confronts the limitations of time.
Against this background, This Event intends to examine various artistic attempts and communication methods in the realm of visual art in understanding performance art through the multiple layers inherent to the genre. In 2020, as we face the unprecedented pandemic crisis of COVID-19, the society at large continues to shift towards a “no contact” paradigm, and it is in this context that this exhibition aims to focus on the genre of performance art, which has been highlighted by the experience on site. Therefore, This Event encompasses the process of examining the essence of performance art, methods of presenting such immaterial art in the form of an exhibition, and conditions of appreciating the genre in the age of COVID-19.
To examine the ways of communicating and recategorizing performance art from multiple perspectives, this exhibition is curated in collaboration with co-curators Junghyun Kim, Haeju Kim, Hyun-Suk Seo, and organized into four different themes – Archive, Site, Time, and Physical Presence.
Traces of an Event examines the traces and archives of performance art through scores, drawings, and instructions that reflect on the aspects of physical participation and fleeting time, and further contemplates on their individual role and meaning. This section attempts to reveal the organic relationship between the archive and live performance, and to explore the possibilities of archives as independent artworks, in addition to their role as a storage of variable purposes.
Questioning the element of physical participation in performance art, Last Dinosaur intersects various layers of the genre with its invisible elements to reveal new expectations, as well as what slips through the boundaries. Furthermore, this section examines the limitations of performance art when physically taking place in an exhibition, and the elements of an event that are left behind.
Moving / Image proposes a new form of performance art that is not defined by the body, but the movement of fragmented images existing in time. Seeking new ways for mediums such as painting, sculpture, and installation to move in time and space through the viewer’s cognitive perception, this section demonstrates an expanded realm of performance.
DEPARTURE transcends the boundaries between the spatial definitions of a black box and white cube, and invites the viewers to a new dimension of performance art made possible through virtual reality. Reinterpreting past performances throughout art history, this physical presence created by new technology challenges our perception, in the same way as the physicality of performance art first challenged our existing values years ago.
Through interrelated concepts that intersect or conflict with one another – “archive and live performance (Traces of an Event),” “site and performativity (Last Dinosaur),” “temporality and movement (Moving / Image),” “physicality and presence (DEPARTURE)” – this exhibition aims to explore various meanings that define performance art through a contemporary perspective. The experience of the exhibition will allow the viewers to encounter multiple frameworks, which complement and reflect each other within the overall structure. Through the process, This Event hopes to bring performance art closer to audiences, who may be unfamiliar with the genre, through a broad range of experiences it presents.
