Performance & Live Art/Intervention
When I introduce myself as a performance or live artist to people I am always met with assumptions that I must sing, dance or act really well which is not the case although I am becoming more interested in these expectations of ‘performing’ and have been using them in my work. I have become aware the power the presence of the artist can have over an audience in a presentation situation be that in the form of the artist talk or the display of work at an event. Although I am fully versed in the context of why I make my work it does not fill me with much confidence in the build up to my performances. However I use my natural awkwardness and anxiety of performing to create tension, which is very real and not acted out.
Joshua Sofaer questions, what is live art? he goes onto say that ‘at its most fundamental, Live Art is when an artist chooses to make work directly in front of the audience in space and time. So instead of making an object and leaving it for the audience to encounter in their own time, Live Art comes into being at the actual moment of encounter between artist and spectator. The artist sets up a situation in which the audience experiences the work in a particular space and time, and the notion of ‘presence’ is key to the concerns of the work.’ (www.joshuasofaer.com)
With few galleries representing artists and a small circuit of live art platform events I like to take the opportunity to make my work in the public realm. Working in public offers unpredictable situations, which I find exciting and the ideal place to engage accidental audiences. My interventions could be interpreted as political acts although this is not my intention the work is always context and situation specific. My drive is to take ownership of my work so I can take control as to where and how it is shown in public if this is taken as being ‘political’ then so be it. It is important for me to feel free to intervene myself when I like as this is the only act that gives me a true sense of autonomy from the institution and the art market.
