Performance Art
Performance art became known as the distinctive art form of the 1970s, and followed the Happenings and action art of the 1960s. The concept behind performance art has been linked historically to Russian "living newspaper" groups in the 1920s. These groups performed selections of political events and breaking news in the streets, factories, clubs, and colleges. Performance art has been referred to as possessing postmodern qualities and, as such, it tends to be discussed in contrast to modernist art, such as painting and sculpture as well as modernist and avant-garde theater, for its interrogation of language, signs, and visual codes. Unlike most traditional arts and theater, the actual presence, control, and guidance of the artist who conceived the piece was central to performance art. While late-nineteenth-and early-twentieth-century modernist and avant-garde theatrical performers saw their work as part of a new movement in acting, performance artists were generally artists from non-theatrical backgrounds utilizing the act of performance to convey diverse meanings and create a new type of communication.
Though the term "performance" has been vaguely defined, the performance art piece is usually defined as existing in one time and space for the spectators who are there at the time of performance.
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