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9

PE R

FO RM

A

NCE A RT

ANO

R I

TUAL

Bodies in per

fo

rmance

Erik Fischer-Li

ch

te

SPLlln:: I l Imlre Researc ¡ IlIlernal/olla/ 22( 1) ( 19 ')7): 22 37.

1.

Discovcring performath'ity

DlIring the

summer

school at Black

Mountain

College

in

1952

,

an

' untitl ed

cvent

' too k place, initiated by John

Cagc. The

participan ts induded ,

besid

es

Cage, the pianist David

Tudor,

the composer Jay Watts

,

the painter

Ro ber

t

Rauschenberg, the dancer Merce Cunningham and the poets M ary Caroline

Richards and Charles

Olsen. Preparations

for the 'event' were minima!. Eac

h

performer

was

given a 'score'

which consisted

purely

01' 'ti

me brackets' to

indicate

moments

of action

,

inaction ami

silence that

each

performer

wa

s

cxpected

to

fil!.

Thus,

it

was guara

nteed

that there would

be

no causal

re la

tionship between the different actions and

'anything

that

happened arter

that

,

happened in

the

observer himself' .1

The

audience \Vas gathered

from

other

participanls at the

summer

school

,

members of the

college

staff

a

nd

thei r

ramilies,

ami people from

the

sUlTounding

countryside.

The

seats

fo r

the

spectators \Vere

set out

in

the dinin

g hall

ofthe

college in

rront 01'

eaeh

\Vall in

the

form 01' four

triangles,

wh ose

lips

pointed to the

centre

01' the room without

touching each other.

Thus, a

large

free

space

was

created

in

the centre

ol'

the room

in

which, as

it

happened,

very little

actio

n

took

place

.

Spacious

ais les

between the triangles eros

sed

the

room di agon

ally. A

white cup was placed on each

seat.

The spectators did

n

ot

receive

any

explanation: some

used

the

cup:.;

as ashtrays.

From

the

ceiling

were

hung

paintings

by

Rohert Rauschenberg

- h is

'wh

ite

paintings

' .

( \ lge, in a hlack

suit ami

ti e. s

loo

d o n a s

tep

lad ucr

ami read

a

text

0.11

't h

e

rclati

on

or

mus

i

<.:

lO

/ cn B

udd hÍlnTl

'

an

d ex<.:erpls

I"ro

m M

astcr

Ed

ll

a rt. La

ter

hl pcrf Mm

cd

a

'c nrnpos

itio n

wit

h a

raJio

'.

I\

t

tl

le

s:lIm: time

, Ra

llschenh

c

rg

p la ycd llld r

ccnn

ls 011 a wiml-

up

gral1l ophollC wlll l

11

II I lI

lI pcl

whi le a Ii st

cning

'"''

,  

t ,. I HU

..

I 1 

N ( ,

· ¡\ R 1 ¡ N 1 I( I I

U ¡\

I

d

ng.

sal

hrsld

c il.

alld

Duv id

TlIu

or

pl

ayc

d a

'p

rc pa red

piano'

.

\

littlc la Le r,

TwJor

~ l a to pom wat

er rroll1

onc

bu

cket into

ano l

her,

while

Olse

n

and

Richards rrom their poetry, eithcr amongst the spectators, or standing

11 a

ladd

cr

leaning against

one

01' the

walls. Cunningham

and others danceJ

I IIrollgh the aisles chased hy the dog \Vho, in the me a

ntime,

had turneJ

maJ

.

2

Rallschcnberg projected

abstract

sliJes (created by coloured

gela

tin

e

sand

wiched hetween the glass) and c1ips ol' film onto

the

paintings on the ceiling;

the

film dips

showed

tirst

the school

cook, and

then

,

as they

graJually

moved

rmm the ceiling do\Vn

the

\Valls, the setting sun. Ja y Wa tt sat in a comer an d

played different instruments

.

At the end ofthe performance four

boys,

dre

ssed

in

white, serveJ cofree into lhe cups, regardless

01'

whether the spectators

h

ad

lIsed

them as

ashtrays

or not.

There

ca

n be no

Jouht

tha t the ' untitled eve nt' is to be regardeJ as a

I'cmarkable event

in

the theatre

hist

ory 01' Western culture

,

as

lTlueh

of the

relationship created between performe rs

anJ

spectators, as

of

the kinJ 01'

interaetion betwcen

the

differ

e nt

arts.

At first

glance,

it may appear

as

though the spatial arrangement favoured a

rocllsing

ofthe centre.

During

the

performance ,

however,

it

hecame cI

ear

that

such central focus

did

not exist. The

spectators

were able to Jireet

their

at tenli on

lo

different aetions taking place simultaneously, whether

in

diff

e

rent

parts

01'

the

ro o

m,

or joining ami overlapping. Moreover,

they

were in

such

a

posi

lion

lhat wherever they

loo

ked

, they

always saw

other

spectators involved

in

the act

of

perceiving. In o

ther words, the action

s were

not

to

be

perc

eiv

ed

in

isolation from each

othe r,

nor were they unrclated to the

o

ther

percei v

ing

spectators,

de

s

pite the

f<I

Ct

that

they were

n

ot causally

related to eac h

ot

her,

and

the perspective on other

spe<.:tators

was not determined or controlled.

On the other hand

,

by placing

a

cup on each seat

,

one element was intro

duceJ that challengeJ the spectators

to

ae!

without ,

however, prcscrihing

how . They could pi<.:k it

up

, handle it, put it on the Aoor, throw it to another

spcctator. hide

it in

their bags,

use it

as an ashtray.

Whatever

the case

,

th

e cup

challengeJ the spectators to act at the beginning

ofthe

performance as well

as

at

the

end

(after the boys

had

poureJ lhe

cofree) without forcin g

them to Jo

anylhing in particular.

In

the performance,

difl'erent

ar

ts

were involved

:

music,

painting, film ,

dance, poetry. They were n

ot

united into a

Wa

gn

er

ian GesamtkuIlS/lw rk

rather,

it seems

that their unrelated

coexistence dosely approximated Wa gn

er's

lIightmare,

'oL

ro

l' example,

a

reaJing

of

a

Goethe

novel

and

the

performance

or

a

Bcethoven

symphony

takin

g

place

in an

art

gallery amongst

various

statues',\ nor

was

thcir use motivated , causeJ or justified by

él

common

goal

111

f"ullction;

they wer

e only eo-ordinated

by the

'

time

brackets '. None

the

less.

\"IlITcspond cncc

did occur

in the pa

rticular

sty

le

oftheir

app

c

ar

ance.

They

all

pi ivil

cgcu lh

e pn for mali

vl

 

IlHlUC: ll

w 11lw

, ic was playcd,

the po etry recit

ed

.

th l, film sllow n , paintin g was p c t f u l l u in

rar

as

Ra u

schenherg

changed

hiN whil L: pai n ti ng.

. hy pn ljcclillp

slhh:s n l l l l

Ihelll,

'

paint

ing

thc l11

over', ami

l i l

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\

1'1

1

1

1110

.\

11

'1

~ N I , ' I )H I-

) R M A

N(

I: A l{ 1

i l l 1 ~ l

is

,d

ways Il'ah /\.'d lIl1 l1\'1 l l1 l 01 movell1ent. Thc 'u Ilion 01" lh\.' arts

·.

1

111:

I l a l l . s ~ i l 1 l .

ll

lh

l:

honJ

l:

ls 0 1' lhe dissolution

ofthe

bordcr

lin

C i separal

III ;-  lile a rl

1111111

allolher. was accomplished here because all were ~ t 1 in

a perrorJllalivc lIloJ

e,

nllls lhe perforll1ative function was foregrounded, eithcr

hy raJically rcducing lhe rercrenlial function (for instance , in the unre1atedness

01'

lhc acliolls. which could not be connecteJ into a story or a IlleaningrllI

'sYllIbolic' conflguration;

or

by the refusal to give the 'unti tled event a title),

or

by

elllphalically stressing the performative function (for in stance, by the

arrangell1ent of actiolls 01 by the emphasis put on l

he

fact that it was an

'lIntitled erent .)

' 'hus. one can conduJe that the historical relevance of the 'untitled event'

is

l'ounded on its diseovery

of

the perfonnati

ve.

That

is

not to say that Euro

pC<ln culture has not been performative before the 1950s. Quite the cont

rary

:

¡,toing back through the l:enturies

we

find that from the MiJJIl: Ages to rhe

l'nd 01' the eighteenth l:entury, European culture can most adeq uately be

lkscribeJ

as a predominantly perforlllative culture. Even

in

the eighteenlh

l'l'nlury. when alphabetization and litemcy grew among the Illiddle d ass,

ITading \Vas seldom perfoll11ed as a silent act

in

isolation from others, but

rather as reading aloud to others in different kinds of cirdes. Therefo

re

it is

1101 an exaggeration to state

that

European culture, at least unlil the end

of

lhe eighteenth century (and in many areas throughout the nineteenth century,

too) consisted largely 01' different genres of cultural perfoImance.

The term 'cultural performance' was coined by the American anthropolo

gisl Milton Singer.

In

the 1950s Singer used the term to describe ' particular

inslances

01'

cultural organization , for instance, weddings, temple festivals.

rccilatives, plays, dances, musical concerts, and so on'.4 Aceording to Singer,

a culture articulales its self-understanding amI se1f-image in cultural perform

;lIlces which it presents and exposes to its members as

\Vell

as to outsiders.

F

or

lhe outsider, these can conveniently be taken as the most concrete observable

lInits 01' the cultural structure, for each performance has a definitely limiled

lime span. a beginning and end , an organized programme ofactivity, a set 01'

pnrormers. an audience and a place and occasion

of

performance

."

Whereas until the 1950s, él consensus existed among Western scholars thal

culture is produced and Illanifested

in

its artefacts (texts and monuments).

which. aceordingly have been taken as the proper objects

of

study

in

lhe

hUlllanities , Singer drew att ention to the raet

that

culture is

abo

produced anu

IlIanifcstcd in performanees . He established the performative as a const itu l

ive

rllnction orculture and provided another convincing argument

1'01'

the imp

or

l

allce 01' the performative mode in culture .

('ulllln: as a predorninantly material culture, consisting 01' and formcd hy

dllCllJlIl'n

ts ami

1Il

0nUlllents. had beco rne a p n : v < ú l i l J (,;(lIKept in the ll

il

W

lcenlh cenl ury. a ll hough, eVl n then, the

1\0(11 )11

wa s v

ivm

n ll sly all ackcd

;I S.

1

111 insl'lI1cc. hy 1:J'iecl rich Nie lzsc he. Nlln\:

tl

ll ' kss il was l

it is

no

li

llll

whi

d l grl'ully ill

ll

uo lll'cu.

il 11 01

delcrmincd 11 1. d\ \" ¡" P

lIll'l

ll I

H\

I '11I1 v

(\1

1

1

"

1111

1 1

I(

M

¡

N ( ' 1 \

U

1  N

l

IU 1 1I ¡\ 1

1lIl llIall itics, hlll also

01'

olhe ' l'ldllll'al dOlllaills, In IIK'atre.

rol'

example, the

(l

l:

Jl ol'lllaliw

alt

11(11 .

(( ( l / ( / ) ( ( .

the Meininger foregr

ou

nded the Iiterary

In l 01" Ihe drallla. on the one hallll -- which arter many years of adaptation

\Vas

1hen no longcr open to revision- and the preser\lablc elcments of the

pellúrmance such as the set and lhe l:Ostullles, on the other. Culture, aeeord

II I

  10

nineteenth-l:entury cOllllllon belief. \Vas manifested by and resulted in

a Ileracts whil:h could be preserved and handed down to the next generation .

It

was against this that avant-gardist 1ll0Velllents

sUl:h

as the futurists ,

dadaists and surrealists direeted their flerl:e attacks, proclaiming the destruc

li¡)n

orthe museums and hailing velocity and ephemerality as the true culture

\'reating torces orthe fllture. In this respect, the Futurist seral e and the Dadaist

\ fI

ir h  \  can be seen as 'forerunners' to Cage's 'untitled event'. But while the

lúlllrists and dadaists roeused on the destructive rorces of their performanl:es

ill order to shock the audiences- 'épatcr le bourgeois'--a nd to destroy bour

1'-:

ois l:llltllre, Cage's event emphasized the new possibilities opening IIp not

only for the artists but also for the audiences. The performative mode here

was applied as a means

01'

' Iiberating' the spectators in their al:t of perceiving

ami creating meaning.

In

the 1950s, perrorrnativity was not only reclaimed by the arts. In anthro

pology the notion of cultural performance \Vas recognized, in Iiterary theory

Roland Barthes rocused on the creativity of l écrilure instead of the static text

(as

in

Le Degré zéro de l écrilure, published in 1953) and in philosophy John

1

..

\ustin defined what

he

chose to call ' the speech act'o Austin developed a

philosophy oflanguage, which he presented al the William James Lectures at

Ilarvard University

in 1955

under the title: 'How To Do Things With Words '.

I k put rorward the pioneering,

ir

not revolutionary idea that linguistic

lI1terances do not only serve to describe a procedure 01' to state a faet but con-

1,'IHled that the mere uttering ofthem simultaneously perrorms an aet as, ror

l'xample. the act 01' describing , stating, promising. congratulating, l:ursing, and

so on. What speakers oflanguage llave always known intuitively and pral:tised

accordingly was, for the first time, artielllated in a philosophy of language:

language not only serves a rererential function , but also a performative one.

That whil:h Austin's theory of speeeh al:t accolllplished with regard to the

J..nowledge ol'language, Cage's ' untitled event ' realized for theatre. Suddenly,

Ihat which theatre artists and spectators had known intuitively and practised

rOl ages beca me evident: theatre no only fulfils a rererential function, but a

pnrorlllative one, too. Whereas, at the beginning or the I950s, the Western

dl'alll<ltie theatrc elllphasized the psychological motivation for actions, plot

l'ollstrllction. scellic arrangement s,

but

ignored the pcrformative function of

Ih

catre. thc ' untilled event' foregrounded the performative function, recalling

11 permanent existcnce in

th ca

lre and bringing it back into view.

f .l achil'w lh is , pcrlo rlTla m;c

:111

sel ilscl f in opposition not only to the

l'oll lCmpnrary m I tllurkc t. t

ha

l i

l\

. i:,lcu (In Ihc prod u

l:ti

on 01' objeets, r

;lIll:facIs as C\llllTn o

di

tics, h ll l ¡liso \11 o l \ l e l 1 1 r l l r a r thca lre.

Wh

ercas the

\ I

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y.

I : >

J

\

I \-Ir l

l"1l1l1l:l\1porary

stage IIsually

1>11

.

11

11  : 11

, l I l \ 1 pan:

Willy Lom un s liv ill  

1Olllll, ror instance , or lhl: mad whc l

:

I)Id l u

nLl

<. ;ogo arl:

wailing

ror (i oull l

llw dining hall

in

Black MoulI la in (. 'o lkg\ did nol signiry any o thcr spucc_ O lll:

l11ighl spel:ulate on whelher

lhe

spccilic arrangements o f

lhe

I"our

lrian

gles

I'ormed by the spel:tators' seats pointed lo a fi gure

01"

the Y ij ing ami coulo be

inlnpreteo accordingly_ But this is quite

another

matteL Fi rst ,

there

was

110 particular segment in the room delineated for

the

perfo rmers to which a

pa rticular meaning

could

be attributed; second, any mea ning deri ved from

lhl: Yijing would have to be related to the whole room and, third, reference 10

lhe Yijillg does not provid c an y

due

to the

meaning

01" the act ioDS_

The

space

was

a

real space,

and

it

did

not

signify

another

(fictiona

l)

space. Ra ther, il

I I I S

lhat

it provoked a kind of oscillating reception. The spectator who

ti il:d lo make sen se

of

the event and ils single elements/actions, became aware

tllat hl'r/his usually applied patterns

ofconstituting meanin

g did not fit. The

IIsu.II patterns were not

discarded as

uselcss, however, but rather held in

ahcyam:e, called up , present,

and

yet

somehow

inapplicablc.

Trying

to

ap

ply

1h('1I1 did not

provide

answers, but led to further q ueslioning_ The

dining

hall

wa.s thc

dining

hall- to which the cup

as

wcJI

as

the film clip

showing

the

scl]()()I's cook alluded  and, at the

same

time, it was refunctionalized : during

1 lime the untitJed event took place, it was another space, neither the

dining

hall nor a particular fictional space. None

the

less,

the

spectator was not

prl'vented from perceiving

it

as a particular fictional space, if lhat

occurred

tu her/him, nor from asking the question: '

What

does this space signify

or

mean?' In this case, the

spectator might

have

conduded

,

at

lhe end

of lhe

performance,

that it did not mean anything (in

the

sense of a referent attrib-

lIled by the event). Space and its perception

underwent

a

metamorphosis,

a

transformation, as did Ihe search for possible

meanings 01'

its single elements

Iike the cmpty centre, the aisles, and the step ladders.

Similar conclusions can be drawn concerning the sen se 01' time

in

the

perl'ormance

and

the performers. The time

of

the

performance

\Vas the real

time 01 its being performed. I t did not signify another time of

the

day , another

yca r or

epoch, nor

a time in which a fictitious character

performs

a particular

al·lion. It was the time

that

passed during the performance, structured by the

actioll , inaction and silences as indicated by the time

brackets

of the score,

alld

not

necessarily another , fictional time.

Whereas

in the

theatre

of

the 1950s,

the

aetors

used their bodies to signify

ficliona l characters, to

perform actions

that are supposed to signify aetions

hy lhese characters, and uttered words which signified the

characters

' speeches,

tho perl'ormers 01' the

untitlcd

event

employed

their bodies in order to

pcrl'orm

particular

actions: to

playa

gramophone , different

instruments or

a ' prcp¡n'el pia no ' , lO dance through lhe aisles,

dimb

a ladder ,

or

op era te

the projcctor . a

mI

so o n. Wh en lhe perro rme rs spoke, they ei th

er

recilcd tbeir

()WII Icx ts nr Ihcy ¡nad e it

de

a r th al lhey werc reading rrom texts by ot11c r

a

IlI

I

H1

IS. l

nl

hi . wa

v.

q

lll

. s lipll t>w ncern il1.l' fi cti o na l char

ac

lcrs , Iheir hi sl0 ries ,

}I\ :: .

l   l   1( l   11 (( I i i I{ 1 \ N

n

1 T 1I ,\ I

ll

'

lIoIl

S.

01 psydwfllgll.·

lIl

mnlivall nn s C) lIld

1101

¡Irise: roal people pcrfo rmed

r

e, lI nt..IIOIIS in a real space in a real time. WlIat

\Vas at

stak e was lhe perform-

;1I1 < e OL ll'l ion s I\(lll he relalion 01 aclions to a tictional character in a fictional

story in a lictional \Vorld, or 10

one

anolher, so that a meanin.gful \Vhole'

IIlight come illto existence.

1 ~ V l : n lhe role 01' the spectator was redefined. Since the referential function

lost its priority, the spectators

did

not need to search for given meanings or

SlruggJc to deciph cr possible messages

formulated

in

the

performance. Instead,

lhey were in a position to view the actions performed before their eyes a nd

Cars

as

raw

material,

and let

their

eyes wander betweell the

simultaneously

pcrformed

actions; lhey w

er

e allowed

not

to search for

any

meaning

,

or

to

accord whatever meaning

occllrred to them to single actions.

Thus

, looking

on \Vas redefined as an activity, a doing,

according

to their particular patterns

01' perception , their associations and

memories

as well

as

on the discourses in

which lhey participated.

At

the beginning

of the I950s, the artefact in Westcrn culture was held to

be the absolllte constitutive factor of any arto Dramatic theatre proceeded

from a literary text, music composed or

interpreted

scores,

poetry created

texts and the fine arts produeed works. Various hermeneutic processes

of

interpretation proceeded from such

artefacts

, and

returned

lo them in order

to substantiate

01'

jllstify different

interpretations

. The artefact dominated the

performance process to slleh an extent that its production (writing_ compos-

ing, painting, sClllpting),

or

its transformation into a per formance (in theatre

and

coneert) as well as of the performance itself and its receplion . had a

lmosl

entirely slipped

out

of sight.

The ' llntitled event dissolved

the

artefact

into performance.

Texts were

recited, music was played, paintings were 'painted over '-- the artefacts becamc

the aetions_

Thus,

the

borders

between

the

different arts shifted. Poetry, music,

and the fine arts ceased to function merely as poetry, music,

01'

fine a rb

they were simuItaneously realized as performance art. They all

changed

into

theatre.

Nol

only did the

untitled

event ' redefine theatre by focusing

on

its

performative

function; it also redefined the

other

arts. These were realized and

described as perForma/1ce But. as mentioned before , the different arts did not

'lInite' in a

Wagnerian Ge .wlI1lku/1SIWerk,

bul into

theatre

, the

performative

art par excellence.

Thus,

the

' untitled

event

not

only

blllrred the borderlines between

lheatre

and the other arts, but al so those between

theatre

and other kinds

of

'cultural

performance .

i

theatre performance is to be regarded

as

a particular genre

nI' cultural performance which, by realizing the features identified by Singer ,

partly differs from other genres ofcultural

performance

as, for instance, ritual,

po litical ceremony , festival, games, competition, Iectures, concerts ,

poetry

rcudings.., film shows, a nd so

on,

amI partly overlaps with

them

.

Th c ' unt itlcu event w

a..,

reali /.cu

}IS

a theatre performance in the Cllllrse

01'

whid , Ict:I

Jlrl'S

, ~ C l r y rcaoin gs ,,, fi lm sho w, slidc-shQ w, concerts,

lah eaux

\

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V 1 SU A L A IU A N () l' l · IU (1 I{ M ¡ N t 1 i\ R 1

vivanl.\ (dog and gramophone, 'His Ma

 ;

ter 's Voicc') , dance and él kino 0 1 ritual

o r feast (in

the

sharing of

the coftee)

took

place

. Ilowevcr,

these

cultural

pe rformances were not re-presented as in dramatic th

ea

tre , opera , or dassical

ballet

; rather, the performance

\Vas

the

realization

,

or the

realiza tion

vas

the performance. Since, in th is i

nstanc

e, thca tre occurred as a non-causaJ,

n

on

-linear

sequence

of

discrete

actions, represe

nted

before an C1udience. its

difTer

enc

e from other gen res of cultural performance beca

me

insignificant.

Performativity turned

out to be the

most

important

characteristic

01'

theatre,

arl. culture. Theatre, art

ami

culture.

thus

, were redefined as performance.

F r

om today's

viewpoint,

the

'

untitled event'

01'

1952

appears

lO

have

been

a rcvolutionary event in Westc rn culture.

The trend

t

ow

ards performativity

w hid . has gradually grown since the 1960s in theatre, the

other arts

and in

cllltlln: in general , was lInmistakably articulated and uncompromisingly

realizcd in the ' untitled event'o

Qn

e could

state that Cag

e 's 'untitled event'

a

nu

Aus

tin 's speech act th

eo

ry heralded the

era

of a new performative culture

and

were its first momentous manifestations.

ror

such a performative culture, theatre

understood

as perfolmative art

/ lIr

n :cellence- as rea1ized in performance ar t--- could serve as a model.

I I theatre is understood as the paradigm of performative art ami, in this sense

;IS lhc

model

ofperformative

culture, what, since the I960s, has it contributed

lo lhe development of such a new performative culture? This issue will be

addressed by drawing on some examples from so-cal1ed per fo rmance art.

Many performances consist of the performance of everyday practices. For

instance. in the piece Cyc/e .lor Water Buckels, first performed in 1962, the

FLUXUS

artist

Tomas Schmit, knelt in a cirde formed by ten

to

thirty

buckets or

bottles,

one of which was filled with

water. Clockwise

, he poured

its contents fram bucket

to bllcket

- - until all the water was sp illed

or evap

Mated . By taking the action

out of al1 possible

context, the search for its

intcntion,

purpose

, conseq uence or

meaning

was doomed to be as unsuccess

fuI

or , at least to

remain

as undccided as in the

case

of the elements in the

'u lltitled event'o The focus lay on

the

very

process by

which the action

was

perl ormed. The spectators witnessed how Schmit pomed water from bucket

lo bucket ami since the context in which such an activity

could

be performed

in l:veryday Jife was lacking, one could

not attribute

a meaning to it- as, for

l'x

ample, preparing to

c1ean the

flnor

,

extinguishing

a fire , filling a

trough

.

d caning a bucket/bott1e,

demonstrating

a safe hand ,

and

so on: Schmit's

aelion

cOllld

mean

a]] this, sOlllething else

or just

what

it

was : pouring water

fmm nne

bucketlbottle into the next.

Other perforlllances al1ude

to

or draw on different genres of cultural

Ill: rl"o rllla nee: rituals , festi va

ls

, services of a1l kinds, Céu'nival, circus perform

;lIlees, shows al a

r o u n d

story-te

l1

ing, bailad si nging,

conc

e

r1 :;

.

spor

ls,

.U. 1I11es, and S

()

011 . In

su ch cult ural

perf

or manccs,

CIII Uf'

l' was (and is)

dcfi

lll.:d

anu rca lil.cd

.IS

pcr l or

ll1

utivc. Tha1 is nol

111

say

111 . 11

:lI ld ; \I: ls are not

IIsed or do Ilnl pl •

, .

IlI'ollJ inenl

rok Q ll i1l' 111 ' l'l ll tl l,1I V

in

Ill

illly c ll l1 ural

1'11(1-

o

U

M i\ N

(' 1;

i\

R

I

i\ N I) IU I U i\ 1

IK:rfor mam:I.:S SO /lll' k ind 01"

a r t c f ~ l c t s

are nceded , some are cven essential for

t k realization

uf

the pcrformance. Ilowevcr. they only

function or

are able

tu display their special power as e1ements 01' a

performa

t ive process, and not

as

artefacts.

Therefore

the

use

of

artefacts in a cultural performance by no

means entails a reduction of its performativity.

Since cultural performances emphasizc the performative character of

culture, it seems wise to proceed from performances that reter in

one \Vay

01'

another

to a genre

of

cultural performance when

embarking

on an investi ga

lion of theatre's contribution to the developmcnt of a nc\\' performative cul

ture. In view

of

the great

variety

of

possible

genres

of

cultural

p r f o r m

rcferred

to

by

performance

artists, however , I shal1 restriet my explorati oll s

to

performanc

es which , in one way

01' another, have

tak en recourse to a

particularly basic genre , namcJy the performance of rituals .

2.

Perf

ormillg ritual or tbe ritualization of performance?

SeCO/Id actüm

1

Nitsch s

OI XY

my.\·te T theatre

The

wal1s of the main room are covered in white hessian splashed with

paint , blood ami bloody

water.

on a meat hook, at

the

eod

of

a rope

hanging

from the ceiling, hangs a slaughtered, bloody, skinned I<lmb

(head down). a white c10th is spread out on the gal1ery floor. beneath

the

lamb

, and on it lie lhe blood-soaked in test ines. the

lamb

is swung

across

the

room. the wal1s, the floor

and the

spectators are splashed

\Vith blood. blood is poured out of buckets over the lamb 's inna rds

and the

floor

ofthe

gal1ery.

the actor

tosses

raw

cggs against

the

wa

l1.s

amI

on

t o the floor and chews a tea-rose. the bloody lambskin hangs

on the blood spattered hessia n wal1. more blood

is

splashed over it.

6

Thc action

lasted

thirty minutes

and

was accompanied

by

music by

the

Greek

composer

Logothetis:

loud

noises were created by the

composer

as he

drovc

his hand , in rubbing and pressing ll1ovemcnts , over the

tallt

skin

of

a drum.

The action was performed by Hermann Nitsch on

16 March

1963 in the

J)vorak gal1ery in Vienna. It \Vas his second 'act ion ' . Nitsch had trained as a

graphic dcsigner

and

developed the later so

-cal1ed '

action

art'

by

\Vay

of

'action painting' , in \\'hich he poured red colour on a canvas in the presence

nI' onloo kers. After initial

attempts

at concrete poeO'y and drama, Nitsch 's

second action already contains almost

al1

the e1ements constitlltive

of

his

'()rgy M y

stery Theatrc',

which

are

constantly

repeated

regardless

of

whether

Ihe per fo rma hce

lasb

thirty minutes , fifteen hours (as his seventh action ,

l

ook

place

0

11

16

Ja

n ua ry 1965 in Ilb a partment

an

d stlldio) or six days

(as th \,;

play

planned ror lile Pr

ill

/

A:n

do

rf

Sc ll lnB).

Al1 lhc clclllcnts IIscd hy

Nitsdl

i 

a 11l  t'urlllancc a re c ha ra

cter

izcd

by

two

Illain f'ea lul cs. Ilt cy aH' ¡¡J h1 l, ltl y 'iyll11 tUlil' ;U d IlIey provokc a strong sens ual

-  t i

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V 1 S U A LAR T A N 1) l H H l t ~ M N ( ' 1 

1 

I( I

inlpression, Nitsch himselfhas listeo a number of sy mbulal' \ l ¡ , ; i : l l i Ihal

can be presupposeo for any ofthe e1ements.

Concerning

the enlrails he spLó lics:

slaughter

house, sacreo killing,

slaughter

,

animal

sacrifkc. human sacrilic

\

,

prilllÍtive sacrifice.

hunt,

wa r. surgical operation . Amongst possibk sensual

i r l 1 p r l ~ s s i o n s he mentions: blood-warm,

blood-soa

ked, mallea blc. res ilicnt,

s l l i r t l ~ d lo

bursting

, to puncture,

to crush,

a

str

eam ofexcremen t, the i

nt

ensive

ud

ollr

ofraw

meat and excrement ' . To tbe elerne

nt

'bJood ' N itsch assigns sym

holic

associations

:

red

\Vine,

Eucharist.

tbe blood o Christ , sacri.ficc . human

ilicc, animaJ sacrifiüe,

slaughter,

primitive sacrifice. sacred killing,

Jife

illiccs'. and sensuaJ impressions: '

body-warm

, warm from the sJaughter, blood

wet ,

bright

,

blood-red

Jiquid,

to

be spJattered, po ured,

paodleo

in,

~ ¡ ¡ l I y

tastc

,

wounding

, killing, a white

dress smeared

wi th

blood

,

mens

tr ual

hllllld, thc stench ofblood . With regaro

to

'flesh' Nitsch

names

the following

syrllholic assocíatio ns: 'bread , Eucharist, the transforrnation ol' bread in to

II

ll 

hody of Christ

(flesh). sacrifice,

animal

sacrifice, h

uman

sacrifice, sa

crcd

kilJillg,

slaughter

,

wounding,

killing. war, hunC. The

corresponding

sen su

al

illlprcssions he cites are: body-warm,

waml

from the slaughter, blood-soaked,

\WI,

n l

W,

bright blood

red, malleable, resilient, the taste ofraw

meat, wound

ill

J:¡, killing, the steneh orraw

meat

,.7 The

tea-rose , according to

Nitsch,

pr

o

V()kes

the symbolic

associations erotic

flower (Iust) , rosary

(Madonna)

,

qu e

en

()l lhe Ilowers' and releases the sensual impressions

seent oftea-roses

, the

tas

te

(JI tca-rose petals,

the voluptuous

opulenee 01' tea-roses ,

the

tea-rose stamen,

the pollen

of

the tea-rose'. s

It

is

striking

that

most

of

the symbolic associations

Nitsch assigns

to

the

COl1stitutive elements of his

actions point either

to

archaic/mythic

or to

Christian/Catholic

rituals.

They are

intended

to operate as

links between the

action/perforrnance taking

place here

and now

(in the early I 960s)

and cer

tail1 kinds 01" ritual which still

oporated

in the

context

of Western

culture

(in

Vicl1na in the early I 960s) such as the rituals ol' the Catholic church or those

\ V h i ~ h

we imagine

as having taken

place  r which

stil1 do take

place- in

;

llh..

:icnt Greece and other cultures, This does not necessarily imply that the

s P l ~ t a l o r s shared the symbolie associations

proposed

by Nitsch. But , al

I tl' very least. we

can assume that

as

members of

the Viennese

culture

of the

I %()s. they disposed of a universe of discourse which was

open

to the possi b

ilily ofsueh associations.

9

11]

any

case,

not

only the

symbolic associations but

also the sensual impres

s inl1s were aceessible

to

perforrners

and spectators

alike. In

Nitsch s actionsl

(1 l. rJ ormances, the spe

ct

ators were involved, evcn acted as perrormers. Thcy

WCl'e splashed with bload ,

excrement

o

dish-water

and other liquids a nd wera

. ivl'1') the op po

rtunity to do the

splashing

th ems

elves.

1.0

gut the

lamb, to

·o n).¡ umc the mea t

and

the win e.

'r he sensunl i

l11p

rcssio

n:;

a nd Ú1c sym

o()l ic

a

ssw.:

i;l

li

PIIS Ir iggercd by the

d irf

en

:n l ch:rlll:

lII

S o rl he e r r ~ c c , u w ~ V \ ; ,

\\In,

lI, d.',,'d ;tlld

stnrctu \

  t.J

IhlCl ll   ·h l t : c lo Olll: ¡(llmill il lll clerl1e lll ' 11 11 1.1 111 111

W.'/,Icrrl

C (¡ristian

1

\el

,

.. In

()

R I\1,\ N c ,

A l

U

AN

II

R

I,

' I I

I

( ' 111111 1(:. Illl: larllh sYlIIhnli/.cs

l

hrisl alld his s;l¡,;rilice. Thcrel orc, the Jamb,

as Ihl' f()ta l ccn ln:

M

almost ¡¡ II \ )1" Nitsch s pcrfi.m

nances

. opens up a

dimen

:>It>r l

whieh st rc

J1

gthens the allusioll to C hristian rituals to which the possiblc

l l 1 h ( l l i e

aclions

m¡J)' rcler. Nitseh labels it the ' mythicalleitrnotif

of

the orgy

lIlysh:ry thcutre (ll1ythical expression 01'

the

collective need to

abreact) the

I

ransformation ' .

comm union : T AK E , EAT, TI-lIS lS MY RO O

Y.

BROK EN F OR

YOU F

OR

Tr i E RE

MIS

SION OF SI NS

. . .

DRJNK YE

ALL OF THIS, FOR

THIS

IS MY BtOOO OF Tl-IE

NEW

COV

E

NANT: SHEOFOR YOU ANO FOR MAN

Y .

..

the crueillxion of

jesus ehrist

the tearing apart 01' dionysus

the

blinding

01' o

edipus

ritual castration

the killing

of

orpheus

the killing of

adonis

the

cast

ration

of attis

ritual regieioe

kining

ano

eonsuming

the

totemic beast

the pri mitive excesses 01' sado-masochism

consuming

l'ood: meat and wine in sumptuous

measure

O

The

rituals

to

whieh

Nitseh

refers

are scapegoat-rituals,

exorcisms , c1eansing

and/or

transforming

rituals. Like a ll rituals they

do not only signif

y a

particu

lar

action,

they al so

perform

it: the referential function

indicated by the

symbols used in the process of ritual is c10sely linked to , even oominated by,

t he

performative

funetion .

The

ritual is

able to

aehieve the desired erfeet

to

which

the symbols

(objects and/or

actions)

allude---as c1eansing the COT11-

ll1unity. healing

an

individual, tran

s

forming

a

group of individuals

,

and

so

on

.

only because

it

is performed

in a

particular

way.

By equating his

performances

\Vith

ancient Greek

und

Catholic

rituals the

artist c1ail1ls that by perfonning his actions he perforrns a

particular

kind of

ritual.

Su

ch a

c1 aim

seerns pro blema tic in m

an

y respeets, for it ignores basie

dilferenees bctween ritual ::; tha t o p.:ra te wi th in a

co

mm Ll nity and the actio ns

(lerrorl1l cd by the arti s

l.

W h

en. lú

r installce the

Holy

Communion

to

whieh

Nilsch rd eI s, is per l ol lncJ as a ¡ill lid litis p roceclure is cert ified

as

a ritual ,

,

fl

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\ 1 tí

.\

I

11

:

1.'

,111

;1 11

t hl>1

i (

11

pI.'

1

S(l

ll I . I I I ¡ ; ~ 111

.: oIl

lit , , ~ 1

  ti pilrl icula r conlcx I a Il

U

IIl1

de l pa l li n tl ul cOlld rtil)l\S a ntl IlL'Ca uM: Ihe

I.

lIl1 glcga lion is cO

l1

vi nccd lhal

he is l'l1lill cd l O perfll rml he aClions, 111 Ihis rilual is comparable t

a sp

cl.'l'

h al't. t call11nly succc eu when

il

is p

er r

or

mc

d in a p

artic

ula r

space

, al

1 rU1l Íl.:u lal lime, in a particular way by a person who is entitled lo pcrform il.

Ir Sl

llllC

OI1C olher lhan Ihe priest sprinkles water 00

somebody's

forehead

and

IIlI

e/s lhe w(mls: 'Ego te baptisto in nomine Pa tris et Fili el Spiritus Sancli',

lit' 11:Is by no Illcans performed a christening- at best , a joke, Benven iste

/lIakcs lhc po inl succinctly:

De loulc maniere, un énoncé pcrformatif n'a de réalité que s'il est

aul

llcnlil ié

comm

e

([cte. Hors

des

circonstances

qui le

rendent

per

/'PI/lJalir, un tel énoncé n'est

plus

rien, N' importe qui peut crier

sur

la

place Pllbli q ue: 'le décrete la m obilisation générale.' Ne pOLlvant etre

1

'1,'

ralll\. 

tle I'autoril

é requise, un tel

propos

n'est plus

que paro/e:

il

l I(:

Ju il

ú

une clameur inane,

e n t ~ l n t i l l g e

ou démcnce . Un énoncé

111:/ 1i)l'IlIalir qui n 'est pas acte n'existe pas.

11

n'a

d 'existence

que

1 (1I

11111

C aclL' d'autorilé. OL les actes d 'a utorité sont toujours et

d'

abo rd

d, 's

1.·

II\H1cialions proférées pa r ceux ú qui appartient le droit de les

11

"lIollcc

r.

I\ppl

l

l:

J

lo

rilllals. it

mean

s

that

they will

only

work when

performed by

01 11 ;

1111

horizcd persono

Thus

, s/he is pa

rt

01'

the particular framing

which the

/1

111;11 IICCOS in

ordcr lo

succeed:

12

the frame

may indudc

a

particular

occa

',I P II , place. time. setting, specific actions: in any case, it will be put up by

11(.

1SO li S who are entitled to perform these actions. Therefore, when an ar t

is

l

111-.

..: Nilsch prodaims that he is

performing

a ritual by

perrorming

par ticular

adiulIs, Ihe

qllcstion

arises as to what entitles him to

perf

orm a ritual

whcl hc r in his ()wn eyes or in the eyes of participants/spectators?

Allutlll'r lfllL'stion concerns the relati onship between the performed actions

alld I hl,i,. pnssih le meaning. If we assumc that the action he performs sllcceedb

111

cxac tly tha effcct which it signifies, we have to explain how sign

:11111 sigllifkd Illerge. In the rituals to which Nitsch alludes. this occurs either

0 1

lhe presence 01' di vine or cosmie/magic forces/energy reJcascd by

Ihe

r1ll1al.

What,

in

Nitsch's performance, operates

as a

substitute for

such

ii

 1

ces?

Wh<l

l

can

iniliate the merging

01'

signifier ami signified?

Bc r, lrc illVL'sligating t hese

questions

- a

nd

in order to broaden and strenglh en

I he g r()lInd from which to proceed- l will first briefly deseribe two other

p

cr

lÚr/llallL'L'S

whidl

, in

one

way or

another,

also rcfer to ritual: .Ioseph Be uy

::;':;

aclio/l

( orole

: II; .-e AII IN;ca

({/1(1

America likes

1/1('

wh ich too k place in May

Iwn i/l Ihe Rc nt Block Gn lle ry in New York and Ma rina

Abramovi

Cs

Pc/ I'n lllla II

ce

JI /( /ifl.l' uf / IIII II/(/.\ given ,, 1 I he K /iIl / i

Jlfe

l ga I

kr

y in In ns brllck

iJl

le

n . I  Bot " per lú rlll; lIIC;cs wcrc very dif'lí:Il.'1I 1 1111111 N

il sd

l 's per formunce

as

\Vd

l ;

IS

1n

1111

,:ac h

oth

e ,- . alld ho lh rd C/I\:d 1

11

( 1

111I

d I

tI

Vl'IV dil '/¡;runl wa vs .

IX

1 1

n 11(

1\1 "

N

( ' 1, ¡\

H

1

¡\ N 11 1(

1 J \J ¡\

1.

( 'I/yl//e: //i/« America ol ld Ame,.ica like:i me

Iku

ys starleJ his action durin g the

tli

ght lo the United States, before even

rL'aching lhe American continent. Ile closed his eyes in ord er not to see any

Ihing.

Al l.

F. Kennedy Airport, complelely wrapped up in felt, he was tak en

lo lhe gallery by an ambulanee. He Ieft the sa me \Vay . During his seven-day

slay he did

not

see

anything

01'

America

other

than

a long,

bright

roOJ11 with

Ihree windows in the René Block Gallery- which he shared with a wild

coyote for a full week .

The room

was divided by a wire screen which separated Beuys

and

the eoyote

rrom the spectators

.

At the far

comer,

stra\\'

was

put

down for the coyote.

Beuys brou ght along wilh him two lon g fclt c1oths, a walking stick, glo vC i, a

lorch

and

fifty issues of the Wa 1

Street ]our 1a (to

which , each

day.

lhe latest

issue

was

added). He presented them to the coyote to snitT

at and

urinate on .

Beuys placed the two felt c10ths in the cenlre of the roo m.

One

he

arranged

as a

heap

in which he hid the lit torch so

that

only its glow

could

be perceived .

The

issucs

of

the Wall Street ]ouf/1al were piled

up

in t\\'o stacks behind the

wire screen

to

the front of the room. With the brown walking stick

hooked

over his a rm , he approached the o

ther

felt c1

ot

h, put on

the

gloves and

covered

hiJ11self completely \Vith the felt ; all

that

could be seen

\Vas

the

staff

slicking o ut. Beu ys created the image of a shepherd who underwent a series of

transformations

thanks

to

the position of his staff:

squatting down

in an

upri g

ht

positi on, he hcld it

up

,

swung

it h

or

izontall y,

pointed

it

to the

f100r.

In response to the move ments of the coyote, the figure turned on its own ax is.

Then,

unexpectedly it would drop sideways to the fl oo r where il remained

stretched out. T hen.

all

01'

a

sudden

Beuys

would

j

ump

up, letting the f

elt

slip

down and hittin g the triangle which hung around his neek three times. When

the last

sound

had died away , he

turned on

a

tape

reco

rder

placed before thc

hars

, so that for twenly

seconds

the noise of

running turbines

was

heard

.

When silence returned, he too k off his gloves and threw them to the coyote

which mauled them . Beuys went to the issues of the Wall Slreel ] ournal whieh

Ihe coyote had scattered

and

torn ,

and

rearranged them into pi les. After

wards he lay down on the straw to smoke a cigarette . Whenever he did this,

Ihe

coyole

would mov e

towards

him .

Al

other times

, the coyote

preferred

to líe on the heap

of

felt.

t

looked in

lhe same direction as the li ght

of

lhe torch and avoi ded a position where the

spcctators wOl/ld be behind its back. Often it restlessly paced the room, ran lO

a window ami sta red out.

Then

it

would

return to the papers

and

chew them ,

dra g thel1l lhrough the room or shil on them.

Tllc

coyotc

kepl a ccrtain dislance from the figure in telt. Occasionally it

l'irclcd hil1l snirli ng

anu

exciledl y jUl1lping at

the

slick , it bit the felt

amI

shred

il

i"lo pil..'Ccs. W h

cn l

he fi gurc lay s lrl'lchcd o ut on the

l

oor lhecoyotc sniffed

alld

rroddcd hl l11

. pawcu 01' s

al

do

wlI

bcsidc hil1l am I 1

ri

el lo cnrwl undc

rl

he

kll,

Moslly, howcvcr. il sl ;I

)' d ..

\\1.1)' . \i Il) th

l:

lig

un

: wil h ils cye

s.

O

nl

y

¡ -4

 

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I" 1/ .\1 11 It I 11 N 1I l' 1( jq 1 1 \ N C • I ¡\ I

W

/

l'

lI

Ik

ll

Ys SllIokcd Ilis l:igalt.'1l1.' ,)11 Iltl.' "II. IWd

ll

.l il

ap

prom: h Irilll. Il a ving

IIIIIS

II

L

U

bis clgarellc,

Be

lly:; gol lo lIis lél'\. 1

1.'1I

11a ngw lite tell ami

covcn

.:u

lI ullsell agaill.

Whcll a wed had passcd, Beuys very slowly scallered

lhe slraw

all over lhe

roolll hugged lile coyole good-bye amlleft the gallcry by lhe same route he

had a rriv

ed

.

111 co nl rasl lo N ilsch, Beuys mainly used everyday objel:ls - such as lhe

papcls

, l ~ i g a r c l l c s

lorch, slraw

, felt, wal k ing stick, glovcs -

and perfo

rmed

cVl:rydayal:lions

such

as arranging Ihe papers, smoking a cigarctte, sw itch

illg

011

a

lape

n:cordcr. Aceordingly , neither the objeets nor the actions

imp

lied

:tlly a llllsion whalsocver lo ritual. Moreover , it is diffleult, if not impossible ,

1.,

asnihc

lo Ihe objccls

and

actions symbolic associations

shared

by ar tist

allcl spcclalors. Ilowever ,

the

elements we re accorded a symbolic

value

by lhe

;111 iSI, 1101 in lhe sense of flxcd symbols

but

of ' vehicles of experience,

trans

IlIilll'rs alld communicators [ l. They represent hidden el"fects and can be

IlIade cOllccivable and transparent. '/4

Th is is particularly true 01

the

materials and

objects. For instanee,

Beuys

c· .la hlíshcd a rclationship

between

the possible

implieations ofthe

felt and hili

IOlrll\' ' actions when he sta tes: 'the way in which relt operates in my aetion,

\\' 1111

dOllble

mcaning

, as

isolator and warmer,

also extenos to imply isolation

1'1'1111 All1erica ano the provision

of

heat for the coyote' ./

5

He used the loreh

as

' illlagc 01' encrgy': 'First , the lorch houses Ihe energy in co m:e

ntration

, then ,

Ihe

cnergy disperses

throughout

the course

01'

the day

until

the battery has

ItI I K ~

renewcd. ' /6 The

lorch

was hidden in the felt beca use it was

not

to be

prl'sL'nled as a technieal object:

'

It should be a source

of

light, a hearth , a

disappearing

sun glowing out from under this grey heap.'/7

The brown

gloves

which Beuys threw to the coyote after each turn represented 'my hands [ ],

Ihc

rreedom given

mankind through the hands. They are free lo

do

all kinds

tlr IlIings, an inflnitc range of utensils are at their disposal . The

hands

are

IIlliwrsal.' lx Beuys showed the manifold meanings

of the

bent walking stick

ror

lhe (irst time in his action Eurasia (1965): it represented the streams

nI'

cnergy lhat ftoat in EURASIA from east lo west

and

wcst to east.

The

11 111/ lrccl

ounw

on

Lhe

other hand

, embodies ' lhe calcifieo death-starc

01'

'A PIT

AL thinking

(in Ihc sen se of being forced

to capitulate to

the

power

of

l110

ncy

ano position)

f .. .

Time

is

the measure

01' Ihe

symptoms

01

the

faot

Ihal CAPITAL has

long

bcen

the

only artistic concept.

That

,

too,

is

an asp

cct

01'

IIH; United States:/

9

Even the two sounds

produced

in the performallces.

1he

hitting

01' lhc

triangle

and

the noise

01

the

turbincs,

were

accorded sLlch

lIIl'anings.

The

noise 01' Ihe lurbines was ' lhe echo 01' the ruling technology :

l'lIl'I"gy which

is

never harnessed ', while the sOllnd 01' the triallgle is rem inis

CI.:1l1 n

I'

' Ihe uní ly

an

d Ihe

on e

' ami is

co n

ccived 01' 'as a slrcam

or

co

m;

c;o lls

II CSS dirl'clcd a l l he coyolc' .'

tl

111 ni N il sch 's pe rformallce , 11I

t.

S Y l l l h l l l l ~ ' .1'iS I1C iali.II1S ass igncd lQ

v;

lIicll

lS

dl?

lIl1:11l'< hy I he

ar'lisl

ar

e nol

...

IfI It'

I,y

his s

fli

x la lnni ,

111

l ' H It ' 1 1

11

N C I

't

I ,\ NI) 1( I

I

I

allhou

g

ll;

1

  111

(,1 CIIlIIlIlllllio11 wa

s

1I11imaldy possible, since lhe clcmenls

01'

his pc rrOnnanCl' hclollg

lo

a general 1I1livcrsc

of

discourse. In

Beuys's

per

forrnallce, this assul11ption

cannol

be

madc. Ralher,

it is Illost likely that lhc

Amcrican visitors did not share lhe associations

suggesled

by Reuys at all and ,

accordingly,

made quite

difl"erent

associations

when perceiving the objects.

However, therc are two aspects which overcome such objcctions

and

poin

to Ihe special

slatus

of

the performance.

First,

the

objects were

not

linked

to

lhe meanings explained by

Beuy

s in the

sensc

01' fixed symbols. Rather thcy

were

Ihought to

be able

to

unfold and realize

lheir

potential meanings and

clTects only in Ihe context of the event thal constituted the performance : the

meeting 01' Beuys and the coyote.

Second , a eertain mythical dimension was ac¡;orded

lo

both partners.

Beuys designed and staged himself as a shepherd-like figure , alluding

to

Ihe

Good Shepherd, on one

hand, and

to a

shaman,

on the

other

-

that is lo

say,

to

a figure which possesses di vine

and/or

cosmic/magic forces . As his partner

in the performance he chosc a coyote which represents one

of

the mightiest

Indian

deities . The

coyote

is said to be b1essed with the

power 01'

transforma

tion, able to move betwecn physical

and

spiritual states. The alTival of the

white

man changed

the

status 01'

the

coyote.

lts inventivcness

and adaptabil

ity admircd and revered by the Indians as subversive power \Vas denounced as

cunning

by the white mano

Thus,

it

became

the '

mean coyote

' which

could

be

hunted and killeo as a scapegoat. Accordingly , Beuys's performance louched

on

a '

traumatic momen '

01'

American history:

'

We should

settlc

our

score

with the coyote. Only then can this

wound

be healed .'21 Beuys undertook the

action

in

order to

reach this goal.

I

t was

performed as

an 'energy dialoguc

'12

between

man

and animal, aimed at triggering the spiritual forees necessary

for 'healing this

wound'

in

the

performer.

He

acted as a kind

01' shaman

who pcrforms a healing ritual

that

will

save

the eommunity by restoring the

destroyeo- cosmic- order.

Although the parlicipants/spectalors were not in a position lo share the

possible

meanings accorded the

objects by the

performer

it was

assumed

that

they would benefil from the shaman's actions as he conjurcd up

or

exorcized

the hioden potenlial meanings and effects of

the

objeels employed,

thus

releasing the 'healing forces', i.c .,

the

spiritual forees within himself which

enabled him to ael as

a

representative

01' a

community

---

at

least in his

own

vie\\'. That is to say in terms 01' Beuys 's performance. thc questions formlllated

abo ve bccome even more press ing.

The lips 01 T lOnras

Thc

lhird example

radicaliLes

ami

, thus, brings

into

focus

an

aspect

that

was

simila rly consli tu live or the two

other

performances, nam e ly the use and

lrl'allllcnl ur lhe perl'ormcr's

bo

uy . In her performance ,

7he lips

01

Thomas

Ma r ina

Ah

lall1l\v

ié ahus

eJ

he

l ()wn h

ody I'\)r

I

w()

hours in variolls ways .

11

V I S J

¡\

L ¡\ R T

¡\

N]) l I R 1 e111 M

¡\

N

l

\ It I

. . 1( I N . . :\ I N . ) I

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Abr alllovié started

by

undressing total1y

l W I

ylllillJl. slle l/id Was pcr

formed naked. She then sat down at atable CUVc,;1 el \Vil ha while do lh and sel

with a bottle

of

red wine. a glass of honey. a gla ss, a silver spoon and

él whip. Slo\Vly she ate

the

honey with

the

silVl:r spoon ,

poured

the red wine

into the crystal glass and drank it. Arter s

wa

IJ owin g

the

wi

ne

, she broke

the

crystal glass in her right hand , hurting hersell . She got up, went to the back

wall where, at the

beginning

of the performance. she

ha

d fast

ened

a

picture

01

herself and framed it by drawing a five-pointed star around it. She then took

a razor blade and cut a five-pointed st

ar into

the skin

of

her belly. Then she

seized the

whip

. knelt down

LIndel

h

er

picturc,

her back

to the audience,

and

started to

llog herself violently on

the

ba

ek . After this, she la)'

down.

arms stretched out,

on

ice cubes laid

out

in a cross. A radiator hung from the

ceiling was directed towards

her

belly.

Through

its heat, the slashed wounds

of the star

began

to bleed

copiously

again. Abramovié

remained

on

the

cross

of iee for thirty min utes until

some

spectators spontaneously

removed

the ice

and

thus

broke off the

performance.

No doubt, the most striking aspect of this performance was the self

mutilation.

However, the objects

Marin

a

Abramovié employed

in

order

to

execute the self-mutilation also allow for a variety

of

symbolic associations.

The five-pointed star, for instance,

may

be interpreted in

various

mythic<ll ,

metaphysical, cultural-historical and political

contexts

(even as a fixed symbo l

of a soeialist Yugoslavia). The

same

holds true for

other

objects:

the whip

may

point

to

Christian

flagel1ants ,

to

flogging as punis

hment and torture

or

to

sadomasoehistic

sexual practiees:

the cro

ss of ice

may

be related to the

crucifixion of Christ-·but also to icy prison cells or to

winter

and to

death.

Ea

tin g and drinking at

atable

using a silver spoon and a crystal glass

may

be

perceived as an everyday action in a bourgeois surrounding

but

may equally

allude

to

the

Last

Supper.

Whate er symbolic

associations

were triggered by lhe objects, they were

not caused by objects in isolation- the objeets as such-- but because they

were used as instruments of self-mutilation. The

actions

which

Marina

Abramovié

performed

with these objects structured

the

performance in a way

that its similarity to a

scapegoat

ritual (or a ritual

of

initiation), in which

the

performer

played the victim, became obvious.

By

undergoing a series of

cleady

perceivable physical transformations such as

the intake

of

certain

substances,

mutila tions by the incision 01 the star, flogging, bleeding and freezing, in

short,

by

undergoing

such

an ordeal, the

naked performer

acquired

a

ne

w

identity. Neme the less , it is difficult to classify the perfonnance as a ritual

either

a scapcgoat ritual

or

a rite

of

initiation , for such rites not only

sup

pose a eonsensus a

mong

members of a

comm

unity

concerning

th e symbolic

mean

ing of the obje

et

s cm

plo

yeu but such violation

::;

and m uti la lions

conc

eived

of

as con

stitut

ive elements Qf the

ri

te are usually innictcd lhe

vi

ctim by melllbers 01' l ile

co

mrn ulli ly empowercd

SI) 111

dll.

l/cre

, it

é l ~

lhe

"1"

. J{ ,\   lt ¡\ IU . 11:\

per flll mlT wlto 111 Ulckd lhe pa

in

011 hersclr and lhe speclalo rs were the onc.s

lo end

lhe onl eal by rell10v ing lhe ice.

As in lhe case

01

the per formances by Nitsch and Beuys. though in

other

rcspccls very difTerent ,

Ab

ramovié's performance alluded to a particular

genre 01 ritual without actualIy realizing it.

AIl these artis1s introduced or used ritual

structures

in

their performances.

They followed, for instance, the three phases of a rite identified by van

(¡ennep.21 They started with a clearly marked separation phase: Nitsch, by

arranging

the

environment and by

puttin

g on a white garment: Beuys, by

lctting himself be wrapped in relt at the airport ; Ab ramovié, by setting the

cnvironment and

by undressing.

The

actions

described

aboye constitute

the transformation

phase

. The final incorporation phasc was indicated

by the

shared meal at the end of

Nitseh's

ritual/performance, by the wrapping up 01

lhefi

gure in Beuys's, and by the spontaneous actions 01 so me spectators in

A

bramovié's

performance.

It does appear that the structure and the

proc

ess of these

three perform

linces derive from rituals. I hesitate , however, to class them as rituals despite

lhe claims and interpretations of

the artists

themselvcs, as my initial q uestion

remains unanswered: '

What

entitles an artist to perform a ritual not onl y in

his/her own eyes

but

also in

the judgement

of

the

other participants, namely,

lhe spectators  ?

3.

The

body in

perf

or

man

ce

In eaeh of the performances which

1

have described, the artist used her/his

body in a striking manner. Nitsch polluted his body with blood and excremcnt;

he put his hands deep into the entrails of the lamb and thus , allllost IitcralIy,

carried out the lamb 's disembowcfment himsclf. He exposed his body to

various

sensations

through contact with blood, wine, paint , dish-w

ater,

m ine,

excrement

; and he inflictcd violcnce on

the carcass

of the lamb with his

own

hands . Nitsch's body was the locus of performance. By using different ma

tcrials and objects , he not only changed them

but

also transforllled hi s own

body

.

In Beuys's perfo rmance the performer's body obviously served a diff

ere

nt

purpose. By living

in

th e company 01 a wild

coyote

for seven

day

s and nights,

Beuys

crcated

a particular

situation. On the

one hand , he exposed

hi

s body to

Ihe risk

of

bcing attacked , bitten or perilously hurt by the

coyote

. On the

other, he

cmployed

his

body

to cOlllmunicate with

the

animal.

The

energy

0

1

lhis ·

dialogue

' proceeded from and was received by his

body. The

spiritual

forces which were mean1 to

bring

about the ' healing ' were to be releascd in

alld

oul orhis bod y.

Ano this blldy, in turn. did n01 rcmain

unchanged

alllidst

alll hese risks an d ir i  was ulli lllalcl y unharmed . T hc sevcn days

aml nigills shareu wil h Ihe COyotl' I

d '

  hl'ir illlrrin l.

\'1

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y tS tJ ,\ t. i\ It '1 i N / )1 I

lIt

H )I { M:\ N t . 1, ¡\ IU

A h

.

I II " )\ i( ahu:i('d 11,')" hlldy, lilcral ly l'Il! illl o IIcr OWII

fksh

, intlicled injuries

PII il Ihal I.:l\uscd

pain

alld lel'l las l ing lraces. Bul

shc

did nol a rticulate her

pains by

sc n:am ing. Sh\: simply pcrformeJ sell'-mutila

ting actions

and

pre

sl:ntl'tl hc r blccding, sufl'cring body to

the

speetalors .

She

exposed

the

process

(11'

hurl

and its visible

traces

, but not hc r

pain

- this

hall

to

be

sensed

by

the

spcctalors. But

obviousl

y this sense bccame

so

strong

and

unbcarablc

that

Ilw y

interfercd

an d put

an

end

lO the

pcr

former's tortures.

111 these actions the performers

put

their

bodics

a t risk lhrough trans

{úrlllations, thrcats

ami injuries which

Iegitimi zed

the

performance. Since

thc

p CI formcr put her/his body in danger , the construction ofher/his own ' [¡ction 

l he ll1ythical dismemberment 01' a god , t he dialog

ue

with a

coyote, the acqui

sltillll 01' a ncw identity- was substantiatcd an d , in this sense, transformed

inlll

'n:ality'. It was preciscly

the

dctiled

, endangered ,

violated

body that

l'lIlilkd the performer to perform such actions as {('the performance were a

1il ua

1.

r his condition c1carly

marks

thc principal difference between an acknow

h d

 '\fd

ritual

and an artist's performance. TraJitional

rituals originate

in col

h.:

t: 1ivc constructions . such as myths , legends and

other

traditions; to pcrform

a rilual is

to

re-substantiate

them

and to reaffirm

their

effects. The artist's

pcrl'ormances, on the

contrary

, proceed from

subjective

constructions.

Bere

,

il

is

only

the defiled body of

the artist, the

endangered and still unharmed

hn

dy

, the boJy in pain , which is able to substantiate

these

constructions for

thc spcctators. The perfo

rrn

crs' acting and suffering bodies

,

thus

,

gain

the

power 01'

evidence

of proof

in the eyes

of

the spectators.

Ilowcver

,

the

spectators

do not

participate in a ritual as

do the

members

01' a Catholic congregation

at

Holy

Communion, 01'

the participants

at

a

shamanist Jemon exorcismo For even if

the

particular

use

of

the

body may

substantiate the performer's subjeetive constructions in the cyes

of

the spec

t:ltors

, it

does

not follow that they will ' believe ' in these constructions , i.e .,

Ihal they will be convinced that they are participating in the dismemberment

uf

a

god

,

in the healing

of America's traumatic wound. in the birth of a

ne

w

itkntity, 01' a sacrifice. At

best

, they wilI sense 01' even believe

that

the artis t's

lis

\

01'

Ihc

body

manifests

and

reveals

a new attitude towards

the body: lh

e

attitllde 01' 'being my bod y' instead of only having it , as Plessner put it.

24

Lwn

if

the

particular

use

of

the body

Joes

not entitle the artist to perform

rilllal or transform the performance into

ritual

, it endows the

human

body

witll values

long

sin\:c

forgotten

and

ignored

in wcstern culture ·va llles

tha ,

al

othcr

times

01'

in

other

cultures , were realizcd when such rituals were

pt'l"formed as

those

lo which the artist ' s performance

alludes

.

I f \Ve

condude

that the artist does

not

pc rfo rnl ritual, what ha ppens

to

the

rdal io llship netw

ce ll

th e a

ctions perforln

cJ und/uJ' 1

111: l1

bic

cts

lJsed a mi the ir

p ( ) s

h l c

rnca nin gs,

lO

lh e rc lation ship bctwcclI 111.: sl  ' lIil icr s 1I1lJ lh e signi fieJ ?

I:i rsl. Ih\ >p..:cl all lrs pe rt'civc

how

r t i s l ~

1

('I I() llIllh l ¡

1I

.;

l

io

IlS : po u ri ng

hlu

qd

un

a

wh" c

\: aI1 VllS ,

k

aring

IlI c

l l I

l l1l1 l , 11 11

1

1\

l r

t'

Ir

a lalll h .

"111

l · lt H)J { M ,\ N ( F

¡\

It I

i\

N " IU I I J

¡\

1.

wrappin g

him

sdl'

in a long kit doth,

arranging

papcrs , m o k i l l g a cigarettc.

drinkin g rcd WiIlC, clltting a fivc-poil1tcd star into her belly , ami so on.

And

sincc the ar tists perform

these

actiolls not only themselves but

as

themsclves,

in

their own

name (not in ordcr

to represent actions

01' a

given stage

persona)

Ihe spcctators will

ascribe

to thcm these obvious

meanings: Nitsch

tears

entrails from

a lamb ' s

carcass

, Bcuys wraps

hjmself into

felt , Abramovié

cuts

a five-pointed star into the skin ofher belly. In this sense one

could

state

a

Illomentary merging

of signifier and signified.

Hut

all these

actions

and

objects cOl1tain an abundance

of

possibilities

which trigger

symbolic associ

ations depending

on

the

universe of diSCDurse of

each spectator.

This

sem

a

ntic

accretion

prevents

simple

merging of signifler and signified . However , the

performance does

not

structure lhe process

of

perception

and

meaning con

slitution in

such

a

way

that any

symbolic

associations are emphasizeJ and

foregrounded.

Therefore

the semantic accretion may result

in a

similar

pro

ces s as the merging: it may draw the speetator's attention away from possible

meanings

of a

gesture

- that

may mean

anything- and focus

on Íts

materiality.

back to the body of the performcr.

Such focus

, at the same

tim

e, emphasizes

that

the action

causes

certain

cf fects on

the

performer' s

body.

When

Nitsch

tears the entrails from

the lamb ' s

carcass he

is tainted

by them

;

when

Beuys

wraps his

body

in

rclt ,

he makes

it disappear

ami creates

a particular

image

;

when

Abramovié engraves a

five-pointed

star

in her belly , it bleeds . Thus ,

despite

the

semantic accretion. the semantic dimension is

devalllated

as second

ury

,

The spectator's attention

, in

this case

, is

not

directed towards

a po

ssib

le

meanin

g, but

focuses

first

on

the physical

execution

of an

action

,

then

on

the

effect

it

has

on

the

performer's body .

While

participants

in

a

rituai may take recourse

to the

collective constru

c

tion

which enables

them

to assume that

by

performing

the ritual exactly only

¡hose actions are caused which it signifies- the

transformation

ora wafer into

Christ's body , the

exorcism

of

the demon- -

because

the merging 01' signifler

ami signified is

based

on

collective

construction,

in the

artis1's performance

they fall apart. Though the

subjective

construction may

be

substantiated in

the

eyes ofa

spectator

becallse ofthe particular use ofthe body, none the Iess ,

the

spectator will

be able

to relate signifier and signified to each other without

considering this

construction. The

divine/cosmiclmagic

forces which

the col

Icdive construction presupposes and whose working the

'

corred

perform

ance

01'

the ritual

will guarantee, are

replaced

in

the artist

' s

performance by

hcr/his individual

demonstration or

her/his

being a body and not

only

having

a body (as the common

basis

of human

culture) ami

the spectator ' s

individual

n:sponsc to it be it particular sensations , emotions , reflections 01' even the

cxccution

01'

cer

ta in

acti

on s (as in Nitsch ' s

performance)

or in

preventing the

pe rl',wme r fr o m co nt in

uing

he r

ac tio

ns.

T

hu

s , I

he

pe lf

on

ne r 's in ma ny rcspc¡;ls, ap pea rs

lo be the basic

con

di

tio

n

rM

Ihi! ':¡

ucccss'

of

lhe pCII IlIIII:III CC.

Th..: risks Laken a nJ Ihe inj uries

su

bs lanlialt: 11

1t:

al

li

s

l'

s

'>lI

h j

cc

l

iw

Ill'

li

llll in Ihe eyes nI' the

spcctat

ors

"Lo

r

l I It 1 e1I( ¡\ NI ' P :\ It r :\ N 11 

IU

1 1 I t I

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: I ¡ \ Ar(

1

J \NI

1

i1

l

l1 . , j ( I \I  

\N

' l '

Alt

I

ami ,

in

Ihis W

¡y

, k g

it

ima

L hn/llI

s PL lltll

lll

,

lIll.:t

 

is Ihl:

physicrl

actioll which lriggcrs scnsaliolls , C

l

HlliollS ,ur

d

i l l l p l l l s

l : ~

ill lhe spcclalors lo

<lct thcll1selves and which initiares rcflcctions which will allow thcll1 lo have

the e

xp

erience 01 b

ci

ng

a

body ,

not

only having

él

body.

The

reception process is characterize

cl

by features

that are

eom

mon to

any

process oftheatrical co mmunication and clearly distinguish it from reception

processes in other art forms, which dispose of artefacts. An artefact allows

the recipie

nt to attribute

ever new meanings

to

its vario LIS elements, to their

combination

and to the

structure

as a wholc:

and, whatever

the meanings

may be, it

is

possible for others to check them by direct reference to the

artefact. In a performance, howcver, the process

01

meaning production

in

which a recipient may accord certain meanings to the actions of the per

former is looscly connected to the fleeting moment oftheir physical execution

by lhe performer. Any modification or revision

01

the

meaning

constituted

during the performance

can no longer refer to the actions themselves

nor

are

others

able to refer

to

them in

order to

cheek the

meaning

conveyed to them

by a participant. AII modifications, revisions and discussions will necessarily

refer

to

the

memory

ofthe

participants

, i.e.,

any

process ofmeaning constitu

tion taken

up 01 continu

ed after the

performance is

over will be

performed

as

a process

01

recoHeetion.

The

subjective

eonstruction

which the performer

tends to substantiate through the performance

is

thus brought ¡nto relation

to and followed by the various subjective

constructions

which the

spectators

articulate

as they recall

the

performance.

For

them

, the only

point

of

refer

ence

is

their own memory engraved in their own bodies.

Thu

s, we

can conclud

e

that

the artist  s individual

transformation of

the

genre ritua l as realized in the performance has eonsiderably shifted the cul

tural focus. It brings baek into view an insight which has long been forgotten

amI repressed in western culture·- even

if

never complctely: that the basis

of

any

cultural

production is

the

human bod

l

5

and that

this

body crea

tes

culture by performing actions. Here, the focus does not centre on artcfacts

created by sLlch actions privi1cged by western culture in general and the

humanities in

particular

;

rather

,

attention

is

attracted to

the very

moment at

which the actions are performed .

This

moment

, in its ephemeral presence,

is

accorded a time dimension

because

of

its reference

to

subjective

constructions.

It

is

preceded by the sub

jective

constructi on 01

the

artist

\Vho has designed

the

actions, and it ftows

into the subjective construction

01

the spectators who lat er, in the process 01

recoI1 ect ion ,

attribut

e ditTerent meanings

to

them. While

during

the perform-

ance, for a fleeting

moment

, signifier amI signified seem to merge,

before

amI

al ter it, in

the

subjective con structions

01

the performcrs amI thc spectators.

they irretricvabl y fa ll apart. In this respect, one migh l evcn discover a poten

lial utopi a ilJ lh

e:

pe

rf

o rma nce.

T hus, rhysü ::11 r

l.lr

rUn

na

lH :e and its rc:co

lk

clhm ;lp]'lclI r tn Oc Ihe ]'lri llcipal

Il\l ll.lI.:S ok ult pnld

11( 1

iun alld iI is

ollly I 1 C 1 1 1 1 ~

,,1 p

hYH

it al pcrrormanCt;

·

1(;

Ihal

is

endnwcd wlllI lhe power

to

Lran

SrOrlll

subjective construl lion into

sl lIsllally pe l l.:ci vab1e realizations which, in

turn,

become the

point 01 dep

ar

ture ror

other

subjective constructions. However, a theory

01

culture that

would proceed from the moment of performance, taking this as its pivot, is

still

to

be developed.

Regarding

the process

of

reception,

the artists performances

described

here fundamenta

lly

question lhe lraditional concept

01

aesthetic distance. When

the

spectators

  bodies are splashed with

blood,

when the audience bccomes

cyewitness to actions by \Vhich the artist exposes her/his body to risks amI

infticts

on

it severe injuries ,

how wiIl

they be ablc to kecp

an

aesthetic dis

tance? In such performances,

is

it stilI valid

to

hold aesthetic di stance as the

adeq

uate 

attitude of

reception? A

theory of

aes thetic perception

taking into

consideration the body in pain has

stil1

to be developed. For it is highly

q uestionable as to whether the aeslhetics of the sublime al ready deal

\Vith

this

aspect satisfactorily .

And

such a thcory seems al1 the more desirabl

e,

since

theatre

,

fmm

the 1960s and I970s, incrcasingly empl oys

the performer

 s

body

in a \Vay which literalIy puts it

at

risk

and

violates it, whether in the perform

ance of individual artists or of thcatre

group

s.

In

th

e 1960s and 1970s the Viennesc

artist

Rudolf Schwarzkogler, for

instanc

e,

abused

his

body \Vith

cables a

mI bandages

(1960);

Ch

ris Burden h

ad

himself locked up in a locker mea suring 2'

x

2'

x :r

for

fiv

e days, nourished

only

fmm

a water bottle placed in a locker

above

(1971); in

the same

year, in

a

performance

entitled

Shooting Piece

Burden was

shot tbrough Ir

is left

arm

by his friend ;

Gina

Pane was cut on the back, lace and hands and , Iying on an

iron bed, scorched and

burn

ed her

body

by candles placed underneath .

26

In

the 1990s, Sieglinde

KalInbach

\Valked

on

fire and trickled

hot

wax

onto her

skin

;27

in

The Reincarnalio/l 01 [he

Ho

 y

O r l a l 7 , the

french

perfor

mance

anist Orlan,

underwent cosmetic surgery to

shape

h

er

face

according

to a

computer-synthesized ideal

that combined

the features

of

women in famoLls

paintings- such as BoticeIli

 s

Venus

Leonardo s

Mona Lisa

Boucher

 s

Europe Diane

from the

Fontainebleau

sch

oo l, Géróme s Psyché. The

opera-

tion was directly trans

mitted

from the surgical

theatre to

a New Y

ork

gallery.

Since the 1980s, performers increasingly use the

bod

y in violent ways ,

both

in dance amI theatre groups. Injuries and pains are infticted on the per

rormer  s bodies as, for instance, in the

theatr

es of Jan

Fabre

, Einar Schleef,

Reza

Abd

oh, Lalala

lIuman

Steps

or Fuera

deIs Baus. In

productions of

Ilany K

upfer,

Frank Castorf, Leander Haussmann

amI

others

, singers amI

actor

s

are thrown about

a

mI made

to fall dangerously.

Ir the elldangercd , scorched , pierced or otherwise injured

body is

the focus

nI' attention,

the quest. iQn arises as to h

ow

this affects aesthetic perception.

As

Ua ine Scan y

has

sh

()w

n, pain

C<lnnot

be cOlTllTlunicated:

S() ,

rol Ihe ; ~ H l in pai n.

SI

illn1l k N;¡ hly

Ulld lI

nncgot iahly pn:s

ent

is il tha l lIavin

) .

pain

lllilY  

1\1

h\: 1

  1111

) .

l1

t

oras

Ihe

1l1

()s l

vihranl

11

\ ' I :-dll\ l 1\

le

1

¡ \ N I ~ 1

I I

IU

 

t ) lcM"NC 'I '

.

,,

(( I

" " I U\1 ¡\ N e

11 l t 1

1\ N JI

It 1

I I

J

1\

1

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cxa m p

lc

ofwhal il i:-  lo haví: í:í:rtaillly , \Vhilc l'or l l l l ~ olhí:r pcrsnn it

is

so elllsivc thal

hearing abolll

pain ' may CXiil

as

Ihe p n mary mo Je l

of what it

is

' to ha ve dOllbl'. Thus pain comes unsharab ly inlo our

midst

as at

once

thal which

cannot

be denied

and

tha l which cannOI

be

c o n f i r m e

To perceive pain can onlymean to perceive on e s own pain, never the pain 01

an other.

The

spectators perceive the action

by

which lhe performer hurts

her/himself but nol the pain whicb s/he suffers. They are only in a position

to assume that

s/he feels

pain.

Thus, a kind

of

parad oxjcal situation

present

s

itself.

The

fteeting

instant

at

whieh

an action

is

pcrformed

and,

thus,

signifi

er

and

signified seem to merge, is exp

er

ienced by the spectator at lhe very

mome

nt

when perception and meaning fall apart and the signified irretrievably separ

ates from the

signifier. While the action

01

hurting herlhimself is

perceived

,

the pain which it causes can only be imagined. A gap opens up for the spectator

between

what is pcrformed 011 the performer s body ,

and

what happens

;/1

the

performcr s body, a gap that seems to be bridgeable only by way

01

imagina

tion. While the performer makes her/his body the scene

ofviolent actions, the

spectator is forced to move the scene into her/his imagination.

The real presence ofperformance

is

questioned not only by the

subjective

constructions

of

the artists and the spectators, but also by the performer 's

pain.

For her/his pain

can only gain presence

for the spectators in

their

own

imaginations

and

not

in the

performance

01

the

action by

which

the performer

hurts her/himself.

Thus, the perfomlance, in a way, turns into a scapegoat ritual. The performer

exposes her/his

body

to risks and injuries

against

which the

spectators

aim to

protect their bodies; the performer causes herlhimself the pRins which lhe

spectators seek

to avoid

.

The

performer, in this sense, suffers in place

of

the

spectators. S/he saves lhem from their own physical sulTering. The ' sacrificial

victim'

at the

torment

and

death

of

a martyr,

or

even

at

the

exccution 01

a

repentant Christian up to the eighteenth century, held 'a magic power

and

the onlookers ho

ped

for '

the healing of certain

diseases

and similar miracles

from the tortured o r execllted sinner , from his

blood

, his Iimbs or the rope ' .l lJ

WhiJe here it

was

the

tortllred and

violated body

of

the sinner

that

seemed to

promise and to guarantee the onlookers own physical integrity , in the artists

performance, it is

the

imagination of

the

spectator which replaces the

magi

e.

Their imagination saves them from the anxieties ofviolence and pain direeted

towards

their

own body

by

imagining

the

performer s

pain and by

attempting

to sympathize with it

and

to sense it themselves.

The

aesthetic perception, thus initialed, triggered

and

provoked

by

Ihe

per for mance ean hardly be described as 'disi nlcrcsled pleasurc . On the

one

ha

nd,

lile spectators fcel sho

cked

anu deny whal they sce ; o n the other, Ihcy

are fascinated because someone viola te s h im/ hefsd l vll llllllaril y an d u l L

Ihe aclion c

on

jllres IIp labnos

nr

lor l

u.n

:

;J OU

phYSll'lIll'

lIl1

ish

lll

cn t.

l l r s

11\

: II C

fascillat

l.!

d

;11111

s Joekcd by

lhcir

OW

Il

L'lIIillsity si

nec. accordin

g lo L'lJllllral

lIorms, Ihey S Jllllld tCd disgusl o r hurror. Il is Ihis ulllbiguily in rcccplion

prll\.;ess

lo

which the performam;e arlisl Rachel Rosenlhal refers:

In per

fornlél11ce art, lhe audienee, from its role as sadist, subtly becomes Ihe victim.

Il is forced to e11dure

lhe

artist s

plight

empathetically .

or

examine its OW

1

responses

01

voyeurism

and

pleasure , o r smugness anel superiority. [ ] In

any case, the

performer

holds Ihe reins. [ ]

The

audience usually 'gives up ,

before the artist. 11 Here, ae sthetie perception may be described as a kind 01

perception which transfonns the

spectator

s into involved participants an do n

this sense. into performers themselves by projecting the scene of the body

onto

the

scene

ofthe

imagination

-

an

imagination

which,

however,

is

tied

to

the body , or is even part 01 the body, i.e., a physical imagination

that

causes

physical

sensations.

Therefore,

the

spectators usually 'give up before the

performer; Iheir imaginations have replaced lhe performer s body with their

own and, thus,

penetrated into the

realm oflhe

incommunicable-

to the pain

of the other , which, 110W becomes manifesl in a physical sensation, a physical

impulse, in a physical response in the spectators.

As van Gennep has ShOW11, rituals work in a community in

order

to secure

a safe

passage

from a given status to a new one

at

moments

of

life or social

crisis in an individual (such as birth , puberty, marriage, pregnancy, illness,

changes in

professional positions, death). The

performances created

by

indi

vidual artists over the last thirty years alluding to or transform ing rituals seek

lo

secure

and

accelerate the passage

of

Western culture from

l

he state

of

a

prevailingly material culture lo a new performative culture. This passage

is

also to be

understood

as

a

passage

from the given order

of knowledge, the

given sign-concept, as well as semiotic processes, towards a new, yet unde

Ilned order of knowledge. The performances,

thus

,

operate

as the signature 01

a time of transition.

Notes

John Cage, quoteo in Roselee Goloberg, Perjiml1ol1ce ArI Prom FUlur;sm lO lile

Presenl (New York: Harry Abraham, Inc., Publishers , 1988), p. 176.

2 Rauschenberg' s

oog

barkeo

louoly throughout

the performance, running after

anyone moving in the hall.

l ~ h e

oog hao been a ve :y popular performer in the

nine

teenth cenlury, but not

lO

everyone s laste

.

Rumour

has

it

that

Goethe

resigned his

direclorship at

the

Weimar

Court

Theatre

becaúse

in

f a

l lund Fon

Allhry

él

hve

dog

\Vas desecrating

lhe

holiness (JI the

stage.

Richard Wagner. Gesol11l11elle Sc/¡rrfien lIIul f);cltlungen ,

I- IX , Vol. IV (Leipzig:

E.

W.

Fritzseh, 1887 8:

2nd

edition),

p. J.

4 M ilton Singer, ed.,

Trad;lio//olln(/;o: Slruclure Ilnd C/¡ol1ge (Philadelphia: Amer

ican

Folklore Society

,

1959),

p. xii.

5 [bid.

p.

x

ii fT

(,

Herlllalln Nitseh, /)e/l Org;I /1

My

sl,.,.;c/I

n/mler.

f);c

Porliluren

al/a u l ~ ( f i : i h r l e n

kl;(lI/( /I/W)(i 1 )( 1 . I':rstllr Balld, l . . , Ak linll. (Ne;l pe Il M ünchen/ W ien : Editioll

Frcihol ,l." 11)71)). p. 50.

1

11

V I S , I A I A I( I 1\ N

1'1

It H li

t

M A N ( ' h A I( I

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7 Ikrnwnll Nitsl:h,'I>il:

Rcalisatioll

\f\

:s O

.M. I'hca tcrs '

(

In' l

).

In I

krmann

Nits('\¡ ,

Das

Or

g

icl1

Mvslaiel/ 'I'I/I·lIlel'. Malli/<'sll'. i/llf.i'iil  e. Vol'/rüge

(Salzburg/W

kll:

Residcnz- Verlag.1990),

pp.

67- 107

 

pp.1J]

Ir

8 Ibid. pp . 105

fL

9

This

is not

the

place

to i n v e s ~ i g a t e

lhe special trauitions

on

which

tlraws

- in particular

the

Viermese

tradition.

Concerning

this qu

e

stion,

E

kke

hard

Stiirk ,

Hcnnwl/1 Nilsch, Dos Orgien j\;/y sleriel/ Thealer um} die Hysterie del' Griec/¡m.

Quellen L lid ]i-aelil iOl1en ZUlI ~ V i e n e r

A

I/Iikenhilel.l'eil

/850

(M ünchen

:F ink-Verag,

1987).

I (J Das Or¡;iel/ Myslerien- Thcaler,

p. 87.

11 Émile Benveniste, Prob/emes ele lín¡;ui.l'/ique ge

nem/e

(París:

Gallimaru

1966),

p.273:

'In

allycase, a perforrnative stalemcnt

can

only aehieve realitywhen it is

conllrmed as an

al:tion.

Ou t

sidc

the Circumstances

whieh

rnake

il

perform

a tive,

such

a statcment

is

nothíng more than a mcre stat\jlll ent. Anyonc can cal!

out

in

thc rnarkd square,

' 1 declare

general rnob

i

lization'. But this

statement

eannot

beco me action because

itlal:ksauthority,

ít

isjust speech: it islimitedto

an

empty

shout,

childishness

,or

madness.

A perforrnat ,vestatcment without al:ti on

l:anno

t

exist. An authoritative

adion wili!

alw

ays

bc

derived from

sta

tements made

by

those

who

ll

ave

the

right to

exprcss thern.'

12 Conl:erning thc

l:oncept 01' frarne, sel: Gregory

Bateson

, 'A theory

of play

and

rantasy; a report on theoretical aspectsof thc project for st ud y01' thc roleof para

doxes

of a

bstractio nincornmunication ' ,in:APA Psycl/ialric Reseorc/¡

RqiOrts

11,

1955).

13

Marina Abramovié is Yugoslav. Butitwould restrict her perfomlance to ,take it

as a staternent about Yugoslavia.

14 Jo

sep

hBeuys,in

Ca r

olinTisdal!.

.!o.\'eph Be

uys

Coyole.

3rd

edition

,1988(M linchen,

Arst pub1ished

in

1976), p.

13

. (My

description

of the perfonnance follows

the

description

givenby Tisdal+l).

15 QlIoted

in TisdaIl , p. 14.

16

Ibid

.

17

[bid. p. 15.

18

Ibid .p.

15

ff.

19

(bid.

p.

16.

20 'bid .p. 15 .

21

Ci

tedin

Tisdal! ,p. 1

J.

22 Tisdall,p. 13.

23 Arnold

van

Gennep ,

T/¡e Riles o/ Pas.\'age, tr

ollslated by Monika

Vizedom

and

Ga brielleCaffee (Cllicago: LJniversity01' Chicago P ress, 1960).

24 Scc

Helm

uth

Plessncr

,

Alllhrop gie del'

Sil1/1e.

Gesarnmelle Sc/¡rifien in drei

Biind

l (Frankfllrt am

Main

, 1980),and He

lmuth

P1essner,

Laughing al/ I Crying .

A Sll/dy oIlhe limil.\'

o/

Hunwl/ Bl!haviour (Evanston

, IL:

Northwcstern lJniversity

Prcss, 1941 , reprint 1970).

25

See

also

Thomas

J .

Csordas,

ed.,

Emhodil1lel1l

CJl1d

Exp

erie /lce. Tlle

Exisl

elllia/

Groul1d oI Cullllre

(11/(1

Se(/'(Carn brid

ge: Cambridge

lJ

niversity

Pre

ss, 1994).

26 Tlle CO/7{liliol1ing, Part

(

of

Auto-Portrait ' 1972.

27

Frankfurt am Maiu,

1991.

28

New York,

1990

ff.

29 Elaine Scarry ,

The Bo

c(v

in Pain: T/¡e

Makillg / /1 /

Un-Making

oIlhe Wor!d (N cw

Yo rk:

Oxford University

Prcss, 1985),p.4.

30 Richard von D

ülmen

, Thealer de

.\'

S

cI/

reckel1.1'. Geric/¡ I.\prax is ul1d Sl r([(rilua/e in

del'/i-ühen Neu::eil

(M

ünchen:

Bcck PlIblishing [[ ou se. ]\)RR, 3rd ed.), p. 163.

]1

Rache! Ro

senthal ,'Performance

ami

the M

as

ochist J' radili()!l'.In :

Nigh Per(imll

al/ce

(W inter

19

81/2\, p. 24.

:"

0

80

WOMEN'S

PERFO R

MANCE

ART

Feminismand postmodernism

Jeanie Forle

Sourcc:

Thealre ]olll'l/al

40(2) (19););):217- 235.

Limiting

one's

critical focus

to

a

particular

group

of performance

artists

or

their

performances

hasalwaysseemedinappropriate, sinecthat

project

would

appear

to perpetrate

the very

act of denning and

categorizingthat

anything

called performance

art

actively resists . Neverthelcss, the overtly pQlitieal

nature of

much

wom en 's performance

art

since

the

1960shas invited

just

such

a

critical

distinction

,

treating

feminist pe

rformance as

a rccognizable

sub-genre withinthefield.Through thelens01'

post-modern

feminist

theor

y,

women's performance art (whether overtlyso

or

not) appears as inh erently

political.

AII women's

performances

are

derived from the relationship

of

women tothe dominant system of

representation,

situating

them

within a

leministcritiquc. Their disruption of

the

dominant systcm

constitutes

asub

versive and radicalstrategyof intervention vis ú

vis

patriarchal culture.The

implications

of

thisstrategy

may

be

understood through

readings

of

feminist

theory   cspecially in relation to performance during

the

1970s. Whether or

not such

considerations must change

for the 1980s is taken up

at

the

end 01'

thcessay,

Arguably

all

performancc

art, particularly in the earlieryears,e

vi

denced

a

deeonstructive i

ntent.

As

the manifestation

of a burgeoning postmodernist

sensibility,

the

violent acts

of Chris

Burdcn

or

the

enigmatic

exercises ol'

VitoAcconci

cast into

relief

the

problema tic

relationship

between lite and

art, between a Rcnaissance conception

of

self

ami

a

postmodern

subject

constructcd by cultural practices. Performance art made understanding (in

any

conventi onal sense) difflcult,critical analysisfrustrating,

and

absolute

definitianimpossible,As a

co

n ti lluat ion 01' thetwcntieth-<:en

tury

reb ellion

agai nstC0111 odilica tion,pc r['nrm;r nec al

t

promiscd a radicalde

parture

from

;om lllcn:ia lislll,",ssilll ila lil'l1, ;llId Iriv ia lily.dCl:O llslructinglhecOlllmercialart

nClwork ; Ind 11111

5(.:

11111

:,

wlll l\: , ,1

1\'

1\

I I s i

l l g l d l l l

lheir

SIJ<I

l:

C,';. Inél

' ''1