between action and image_ performance as ‘inframedium’ _ tate

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Articles Sign in Blogs & channel Articles By FEATURE Between Action and Image: Performance as ‘Inframedium’ Jonah Westerman 20 January 2015 What would it mean to think of performance as a medium? Or rather, what would it do to our usual modes of articulating performance art, its meanings, and its histories? It might at first sound odd to posit performance as a medium, given that we normally think of it as resolutely ephemeral. But thinking about performance in relation to media has always been part of how critics and scholars have dealt with its forms, even and especially when making the strongest cases for its inevitable evanescence. In 1993 Peggy Phelan wrote that ‘Performance’s only life is in the present’; that it ‘cannot be saved, recorded, documented, or otherwise participate in the circulation of representations of representations: once it does so it becomes something other than performance’. For Phelan, a work of performance art only exists as long as the exact duration of its staging. Repeat performances comprise entirely different works, and any documentation – any translation into mediated forms – can only retrospectively gesture toward that which once was, but is no more. Phelan draws this ontological line in the sand because, for her, the value of performance lies in its disappearance: ‘Without a copy, live performance plunges into visibility – in a maniacally charged present – and disappears into memory, into the realm of invisibility and the unconscious where it eludes regulation and control’. Because it vanishes, performance has the power to shortcircuit the normal functioning of the art market’s profitmotive and to escape the power of mastering narratives. In Phelan’s account, performance’s identity and its attendant capacities are secured through a negative relation to media. Performance is not a photograph, not a video, not a subsequent written account, not even the aggregate of memories stemming from the act since these, too, only represent partial approaches to the thing itself – just rippling waves generated by, but not identical to, the stoniness of the stone now forever submerged beneath its own glistening traces. For her, performance is the art form that is not one, that which exceeds the photograph, that which evades the video, and so on. Performance is raw immediacy. Philip Auslander has adopted a diametrically opposite view of this relationship. For him, mediation is what creates performance in the first place. In 2006 he wrote, ‘Documentation does not simply generate image/statements that describe an autonomous performance and state that it occurred: it produces an event as a performance’. That is, those formerly inadequate and obscuring ripples can now be understood not only to describe the size, speed and trajectory of the stone that created them, nor merely to prove and attest that there was a stone that struck the water, but to draw our attention to the event as something significant, something worthy of our attention because it has left its mark on the world and our experience of it. Auslander demonstrates the might of this ex post facto production by describing works that never happened 1 2 3

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Analysis of competing approaches to performance and documentation in Contemporary Art.

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  • 3/25/2015 Between Action and Image: Performance as Inframedium | Tate

    http://www.tate.org.uk/context-comment/articles/between-action-and-image-performance 1/6

    Articles Signin

    Blogs&channel Articles

    By

    FEATURE

    Between Action and Image: Performance as InframediumJonahWesterman

    20January2015

    Whatwoulditmeantothinkofperformanceasamedium?Orrather,whatwoulditdotoourusualmodesofarticulatingperformanceart,itsmeanings,anditshistories?Itmightatfirstsoundoddtopositperformanceasamedium,giventhatwenormallythinkofitasresolutelyephemeral.Butthinkingaboutperformanceinrelationtomediahasalwaysbeenpartofhowcriticsandscholarshavedealtwithitsforms,evenandespeciallywhenmakingthestrongestcasesforitsinevitableevanescence.

    In1993PeggyPhelanwrotethatPerformancesonlylifeisinthepresentthatitcannotbesaved,recorded,documented,orotherwiseparticipateinthecirculationofrepresentationsofrepresentations:onceitdoessoitbecomessomethingotherthanperformance. ForPhelan,aworkofperformanceartonlyexistsaslongastheexactdurationofitsstaging.Repeatperformancescompriseentirelydifferentworks,andanydocumentationanytranslationintomediatedformscanonlyretrospectivelygesturetowardthatwhichoncewas,butisnomore.Phelandrawsthisontologicallineinthesandbecause,forher,thevalueofperformanceliesinitsdisappearance:Withoutacopy,liveperformanceplungesintovisibilityinamaniacallychargedpresentanddisappearsintomemory,intotherealmofinvisibilityandtheunconsciouswhereiteludesregulationandcontrol. Becauseitvanishes,performancehasthepowertoshortcircuitthenormalfunctioningoftheartmarketsprofitmotiveandtoescapethepowerofmasteringnarratives.

    InPhelansaccount,performancesidentityanditsattendantcapacitiesaresecuredthroughanegativerelationtomedia.Performanceisnotaphotograph,notavideo,notasubsequentwrittenaccount,noteventheaggregateofmemoriesstemmingfromtheactsincethese,too,onlyrepresentpartialapproachestothethingitselfjustripplingwavesgeneratedby,butnotidenticalto,thestoninessofthestonenowforeversubmergedbeneathitsownglisteningtraces.Forher,performanceistheartformthatisnotone,thatwhichexceedsthephotograph,thatwhichevadesthevideo,andsoon.Performanceisrawimmediacy.

    PhilipAuslanderhasadoptedadiametricallyoppositeviewofthisrelationship.Forhim,mediationiswhatcreatesperformanceinthefirstplace.In2006hewrote,Documentationdoesnotsimplygenerateimage/statementsthatdescribeanautonomousperformanceandstatethatitoccurred:itproducesaneventasaperformance. Thatis,thoseformerlyinadequateandobscuringripplescannowbeunderstoodnotonlytodescribethesize,speedandtrajectoryofthestonethatcreatedthem,normerelytoproveandattestthattherewasastonethatstruckthewater,buttodrawourattentiontotheeventassomethingsignificant,somethingworthyofourattentionbecauseithasleftitsmarkontheworldandourexperienceofit.Auslanderdemonstratesthemightofthisexpostfactoproductionbydescribingworksthatneverhappened

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    Fig.1YvesKleinLeapintotheVoid1960YvesKlein,ADAGP,ParisPhoto:ShunkKenderRoyLichtensteinFoundation

    inthewaytheyareportrayedperformancesthatexistsolelyasworksofmediation.

    HefocusesonartistYvesKleinsfamouslyconfabulatedphotograph,LeapintotheVoid1960(fig.1).ThisblackandwhiteimagecapturesKleininfullbodyprofileandinthemiddledistance(fromthestandpointofthecamera)ashetakesaswandivefromatwostorybuilding,frozenattheheightofhisarcbeforetheimpendingplummettothesidewalkbelow.Whenitwasstaged,agroupofpeopleonthestreetwerewaitingwithanettocatchhim.InthefinalcollagedimagethatcirculatesasLeapintotheVoid,however,thispracticalprecautionhasbeencarefullyexcised,anotherviewoftheunforgivingandunpeopledgroundstandinginforthoseopenarms.AsAuslanderputsit,Theimageweseethusrecordsaneventthatnevertookplaceexceptinthephotographitself. Evenso,heargues,Leapisnolessaperformanceforneverhavinghappened.InAuslandersview,thephotographmakestheperformancenotonlyratifyingit,buttypifyingitandcallingitintobeingasanactionintendedforconsiderationbyanaudience.Itisthephotographthatcreatestheperformance,andcontinuallycreatesiteverytimesomeoneseestheimage.Here,whateverisaliveinperformanceisinitiatedthroughitsmediation.

    AuslanderconfrontstheghostofPhelansnegativeontologythathauntshisinterventionbycomparingKleinsLeaptoChrisBurdensequallyiconicShoot1971,whichalsopurportstopresentafleetingactioninphotography(fig.2).ForShoot,Burdenhadhimselfshotinthearmbyamarksmanarmedwitharifle.PhotographscapturethetensemomentbeforethebulletisloosedtheshooterreadyandaimingasBurdenstandsagainstablankwhitestudiowallaswellastheimmediateaftermaththeartistwalkingacrossthestudio,snapshottakenfromhisleftsidesothe.22caliberthroughandthroughonhistricepanditstelltaletrickleofbloodareinprominentevidence.Polemically,Auslanderasks:

    WhatdifferencedoesthefactthattheimageofChrisBurdendocumentssomethingthatreally

    happenedandtheimageofYvesKleindoesnotmaketoourunderstandingoftheseimagesin

    relationtotheconceptofperformancedocumentation?Myanswer:Ifweareconcernedwiththe

    historicalconstitutionoftheseeventsasperformances,itmakesnodifferenceatall.

    Fig.2ChrisBurdenShoot1971

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    AuslanderdivorcesthefacticityofdepictedeventsfromtherealityeffectproducedbytheirultimateformsitlookslikeKleinjumpsrecklessly,justasitlookslikeBurdengotshot.Forhim,thateffectisthelocationofperformance.Auslanderconcludes,Itmaywellbethatoursenseofthepresence,power,andauthenticityofthesepiecesderivesnotfromtreatingthedocumentasanindexicalaccesspointtoapasteventbutfromperceivingthedocumentitselfasaperformancethatdirectlyreflectsanartistsaestheticprojectorsensibilityandforwhichwearenowthepresentaudience. Suchathoughtexperimentwashesawaylayersofaccruedanxietyovercomingtoperformance(s)toolate.

    ButyoudonothavetobePeggyPhelantoseethatthisnotionofperformanceasamediatedartifact,onethatreflectsanartistsaestheticproject,forfeitsanyandallclaimstoitsbeingdifferentfromanykindofartwhatsoever.Isthisnottrueofallphotography,film,painting,sculpture,andsoon,producedsincetheadventoftheconceptsartandartist(atleastintermsofthewesterndisciplinarylanguageofarthistory)?PhelaneffacesanysignificantconnectionbetweenperformanceanditstraceswhileAuslanderelidesanydifferencebetweenactionandartifact.Thesharedresultofeachoftheseattemptstodefineperformanceistoposititasasovereigncategory,yetmakeitunknowable.ForPhelan,thisisthestatedaimthestoneislosttothewaterbutforAuslanderthiserasureisanunintended(andironic)consequenceweencounteraninfinitehomogeneoussurface,everyundulationlikeanyother.Foralltheverbiageinvested,wedonotknowperformanceanybetter.

    Surelytheremustbeaspacebetweenthesetwoantipodes,aterrainonwhichwecouldsensitivelydrawouthowperformancerelatestoitsmediawhilerespectingdistinctions.In1965artistDickHigginsusedthetermintermediumtodescribethennewworksofartthatheunderstoodtofallbetweenmedia. HewastalkingaboutHappenings,whichtheessaydescribedasanunchartedlandthatliesbetweencollage,music,andthetheater,butalsoaboutRauschenbergscombines,Oldenburgssoftsculptures,andgoingsonatJudsonDance,amongotherexamples. ForHiggins,thistransgressionofartstraditionallinesechoedthedayssocialunrest.ThenotionofapuremediumcouldnolongerholdwhenCastrowork[ed]inthecanefieldsandNewYorksMayorLindsaywalk[ed]toworkduringthesubwaystrike. Withsuchanequationbetweenartstakingflightfrommediumspecificityandtheseemingsignsofareorganisationofsocietyinmind,itisallthemorebafflingtoconfrontthelaterdesiretopinpointandprotectperformancesontology,itsmediumidentity,inthenameofsecuringitsradicalpotential.Despitehissensethatthemodeofintermedialitysignaledanepochalshiftinartproduction,Higginsinsiststhattheconceptcanonlyofferastartingpointforfurtheranalysisandunderstanding:itallowsforaningresstoaworkwhichotherwiseseemsopaqueandimpenetrable,butoncethatingresshasbeenmadeitisnolongerusefultoharpupontheintermedialityofawork. Startingfromtherealisationthatartworkscancompriseintermedia,onemustthenproceedtointerrogatewhichmediaarebeingintermingledandwhy.

    Thisideacanbringussomedistanceinapproaching(withspecificity,ratherthanflatteningequality)thecasesAuslanderraises.Forexample,thinkinginintermedialtermscouldmeanconceivingLeapinrelationtocollageandShootinrelationtophotojournalism.Pullingtheworksapartinthiswaywouldsetusontracktoappreciatingtheirdifferences,whyitmattershistoricallyandaestheticallythatoneimagecorrespondsmorecloselytoafacticexperienceoflivedrealitythantheother.Westillrunintoadeadend,however,solongasweimagineeitherofthesecollageorphotojournalismtobemixed,orintermedialised,withperformance.For,doingsostillpresumesperformancetobeasovereigncategorythispresumptionpreservestheinitialbinarytermsofthedocumentationproblematicasPhelanlaysitout:performance(asaction)ononehand

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    documentationontheother.Assoonasweattempttodrawdistinctionsbetweentheperformancesbasedonhowtheymakeuseofmedia,weendupseparatingactionfromartifactand,thus,rightbackwherewestarted.

    Tothinkthroughperformancesrelationtomedia(withoutlosingeithertermtotheotherspriority),itisimperativetoimagineanintermediumthatdoesnotmerelycombinealreadyidentifiable,discreteartisticmedia(evenifitchangesthemintosomeotherartformgreaterthanthesumofitsparts)butthatalsobridgesthespaceofartwithactivities,actions,andprocessesimaginedtobebeyonditspurviewi.e.,thespaceoflife,thingsnotyetframedbyartisticdiscourseandpractice,butwhichcanbebroughtwithinit.ThisisalreadytosomeextentwhatHigginshadinmindwiththeexampleshechooses,buthepointsdirectlyatthisproblembymentioningMarcelDuchamp.Hewrites,Thereadymadeorfoundobject,inasenseanintermediumsinceitisnotintendedtoconformtothepuremediumsuggestsalocationbetweenthegeneralareaofartmediaandthoseoflifemedia. ThislocationisthespacebetweenPhelanandAuslander,anditisthisblurryinterzonebetweenartmediaandlifemediathatmustbeourpointofdepartureinconsideringtherelationshipbetweenactionandmediationinperformance.

    Thereadymadeisusuallythoughtofasanobjectlessoninradicaldislocation,adisjunctiveleapacrossunlikespacestakeaurinal,removeitfromthebathroom(orhardwarestore),putitinagallery,titleitanditbecomesFountain(fig.3).Buttheideaofintermediality(asbringingtogetherartmediaandlifemedia)suggestsweshouldseethereadymadeasanactofspatialcompressioninstead,theproductionofakindofwormholethatbringsthesetwoformerlydistantplacesinfinitelyclosetogether,asopposedtoadefinitivecleavagethatseparatesthem.Indeed,thisproductionofproximityexplainsmuchbetterwhyFountainwascapableofdisgustingitsfirstaudiences(andstillisineveryclassroominwhichIhaveevertaught).Theobjectneverstopsbeingaurinalbutitalsobecomessculpture,meaningitsimultaneouslyisandisnotaurinal.

    Fig.3MarcelDuchamp(18871968),Fountain1917,replica1964SuccessionMarcelDuchamp/ADAGP,ParisandDACS,London2002

    Thisinfinitesimal,vibrating,uncertaindistanceiswhatDuchampcalledtheinframince,usuallytranslatedasinfrathintoothintobethin,orevenmorethinthanthin.Hisexamplesincludethewarmthfeltontheseatofachairjustaftersomeonegetsupfromitandthespacebetweenthefrontandbacksidesofasheetof

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    paper.Weexperiencetheinfrathinwhentobaccosmokeexhaledalsosmellsofthemouthwhichexhalesit,orwhenweviewanimagepaintedonglassfromthenonpaintedside. Thetwoelementssmokeandbreath,orglassandpaintremainintelligible,perceptible,butwhereonestopsandtheotherstartsisunidentifiable,toofinetograsp.

    Performancebringsartmediaandlifemediatogetheralonganinfrathinedge.Thismeansthatwhenweconsiderperformanceandmedia,weshouldnotlamenttheirretrievablelossofthestone,oreraseitsdistinctionfromthewaterysurround,butratherconcentrateonthethresholdmomentbetweenitsbeingdryandbeingwet.Thatkissingspatialplane,thattemporalmembrane,isperformanceasamedium.Itisaninfrathincominglingofmediawhatwecouldcallaninframedium.Tofocusonthethresholdthiswayis,pacePhelanandAuslander,toimagineperformancelessasathinginitself(whetherlocatedinanactionoritstraces)andmoreasaspatialsituation,asamobileandprofoundlyindistinctdividinglinethatjoinsformtoexperienceand,byvirtueofitsspecificsitinginagivenwork,describesthelocationandcompositionofeach.

    AsFountainisbothaurinalandasculpture,soLeapintotheVoidisbothanactoffaithandacontrolledmanipulationofform.ItmattersequallythatKleinjumpedfromthebuildingandthathedidsoconceivinginadvancethatthefinalproductwouldbeacollagedphotograph.Theimageisdesignedtosettheborderbetweenliveactionandcrystallisedformbuzzing.Andittreatshisbodyandphotographyasmediacapable,whencombined,ofproducinganartworkthataffordsaglimpseoftranscendence.AlongwithAuslander,wewouldhavetosaythatinthisregardLeapreflectsKleinsaestheticproject.AcanvassaturatedwithimpastoedInternationalKleinBluedeliversthesamemomentarydefianceofgravity,astheexperienceofvisionseemstodancefreefromitscorporealanchor.Butbyusinghisownbody(foronce)toachievethiseffectKleinaskshisviewerstosee,additionally,howsuchayearningcanonlyeverbeexpressedthroughform,howthesearchfortheimpossibleandinexpressibleisconductedpreciselythroughwhatwecandoandmake.Leapmakesspiritchafeagainstfleshtheinfrathinlinethatunitesanddividesthetwoiswheretheperformancehappens.

    Likewise,Shootisbothanactofselfsacrificeandacalculatedpresentationofartisticmastery.ItiscrucialtotheworkthatBurdenreallydidgetshot,anditisequallyimportantthatthephotographsconveythisactioninthewaytheydo.TheflightofthebulletmimicstheinstantaneityofliveactionasPhelanwouldseeit,andthephotographicstrategyofcapturingthemomentsjustbeforeandafterBurdengetshitheightensourapprehensionofShootsbriefpassageintime.Thephotographsconspiretoamplifytheephemerality,presentingitagainandagaintonewaudiences.Intheseways,again,PhelanandAuslanderareeachrighttosomeextent.Butthepointistothinkbothofthesemomentstogetherascomprisingperformance.Itisworthmentioning,moreover,thatoneofDuchampsmanyexamplesoftheinfrathinisthemomentbetweenhearingapistolfireandseeingitstargetpierced.Theinfrathinseamthatjoinssignifiedandsignifieriswhattheperceivingaudienceencounters.WithShoot,weconfronttheplacewhereviolencebecomesanobjectofconsumption.ArthistorianKathyODellhasarguedthatthispiece(andotherexamplesofwhatshedescribesasmasochisticbodyartofthe1970s)shouldbeseeninrelationtotheircontemporaneoustelevisualenvironment,whichfeaturedthefirsteverrealtimeimagesofcombatasnewscoverageoftheVietnamWarbeameditswayintoAmericanhomes. Shootwasnotonlydesignedtobephotographed,butwasmediatedinadvanceinbeingaresponsetosuchtelevisedfootage(anditshavingalreadymarriedlifemediawithartmedia).

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    Research FeatureTags:

    Performancehappensatthethresholdofactionandimage.Thatplaceisimpossibletoidentifydefinitively,tocordonorsequester,andthisiswhyeventhemostsophisticatedattemptstodefineperformanceasathinginitselfendupeithersubmergingitbeneathunknowabledepthsorconflatingitwiththeformswithwhichittravels.Butapproachingperformanceasaninframediumoffersagenerativemethodforexploringworksthatmightatfirstseemopaqueandimpenetrable,asHigginsputsit.Weneedtoworrylessaboutthetimeofperformanceandwhetheritwasthenornoworalways,andthinkmoreaboutwhereithappens,whatitbringstogetherandhowthatspatialsituationbothquestionsanddescribesourownvantageontothenexusofartandlife.

    JonahWestermanAHRCPostdoctoralResearcher,TateJanuary2015

    Notes

    PeggyPhelan,Unmarked:ThePoliticsofPerformance,NewYorkandLondon1993,p.146.Ibid,p.148.PhilipAuslander,ThePerformativityofPerformanceDocumentation,PAJ:AJournalofPerformanceandArt84,vol.28,no.3,September2006,p.5.Ibid,p.2.Ibid,p.5.Ibid,p.9.DickHiggins,Intermedia,inHorizons,Illinois1984,p.18.FirstpublishedinSomethingElseNewsletter1,no.1,NewYork1966.Ibid,p.22.Ibid,p.18.1981addendumtoIntermedia,ibid,p.27.Ibid,p.20.MichelSanouilletandElmerPeteron(eds.),TheWritingsofMarcelDuchamp,Oxford1973,p.194.SeealsoThomasGirst,TheDuchampDictionary,London2014,pp.978.SeeKathyODell,ContractwiththeSkin:Masochism,PerformanceArt,andthe1970s,Minneapolis1998.

    1.2.3.

    4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12.

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