10 Best Performance Art Pieces of All Time

Performance Art was originally described as any live artistic event that was highly popular in the 1960's when a generation threw off the chains of tradition from the 1950's and became as open and "free" as possible in their expression of everything. The Flower Child generation fully supported outdoor venues (remember Woodstock).
But Performance Art is actually defined as art in which the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time constitute the work. It can happen anywhere, at any time, or for any length of time.

If this sounds a bit familiar, the modern "Flash Mob" events are exactly that - Performance Art. It is usually experimental or avant-garde in nature. Performance art can be any situation that involves four basic elements: time, space, the performer's body and a relationship between performer and audience. It can also include robots or machines. This is also different from the Performing Arts which are more well-known to audiences such as theater, dance and music.

In my opinion, here are the 10 Best:

1) New York City has frequently been the location of Performance Art. In 2005 New York's Central Park was brightly draped with orange fabric on 7500 frames that fell to just above people's heads. Titled "The Gates", it was created by Christo and Jean-Claude. New Yorkers and visitors alike strolled through "The Gates" since they were hung over the pedestrian walkways.

2) New York City is the location again, but indoors at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Titled "The Artist is Present", the exhibit opened March 14, 2010. The part of the exhibit of 38 mostly nude models has garnered the most attention but has met with little protest. It is a testament to the artist, Marina Abramovic, that not even the two nude models at the entrance, that all patrons must pass by closely, have been met with objection. This performance retrospective traces the prolific career of Marina Abramović (Yugoslav, b. 1946) with approximately fifty works spanning over four decades of her pieces, video works, installations, photographs, solo performances, and collaborative performances. It takes up several floors of the MoMA with Abramovic herself sitting quietly as part of the exhibit on one floor.

3) Providence, RI has an outdoor spectacle called "Waterfire". It runs most weekends from late Spring to early Fall. At nightfall in the middle of downtown where the river runs through, there are pyres of wood set up along the public walkway. Around 9pm gondola boats slowly come up the river and light each pyre until they are all ablaze. It is quite moving and beautiful. In addition, performers dressed as gargoyles sit as statues in the area until someone approaches, then they spring to life. Sometimes there are mimes or other characters. It is great entertainment and has become a staple for the tourists.

4) Many Performance Art Pieces contain nudity. As Rachel Znerold says about the San Francisco "Prove You're Not A Robot" it is " ..shocking. Naked. Terrifying. Beautiful. Grotesque. Above all else, performance art forces us to think". And I believe that is why it scares some people. Sadie Lune and Lula Mae Day presented they're "Prove You're Not A Robot" performance piece in April 2010. It was subtitled: "Interactive Experiments in Fear-Art-Love". It took three weeks of intensive exercises between the two artists to clearly define the experience they wanted to share with the pubic.

5) Yoko Ono (john Lennon's widow) was part of the early years (1960's) of Performance Art. She was a Dada-inspired avant-garde feminist and fiercely independent. Some of her earliest conceptual artwork included a piece called "Painting to Be Stepped On". With this she really challenged the traditional concept of artwork hung on a wall. She started with a scrap of canvas on the floor that everyone stepped on as they came through her gallery. It was complete when she was satisfied with the number of footprints on it. In the eyes of some this was disrespectful to the art.....something stomped on that was not to be hung up and admired. She was depicting some of her own feelings of suffering.

6) Back to something modern day, Flash Mobs have become the most recent development to Performance Art. It is done in public, has a certain shock value, and usually appears unexpectedly, and only those involved actually know what is happening. They are seen as large scale street performances, unexpected, creative, but all in good fun. Oprah was treated to probably the largest flash mob performance outdoors held to celebrate her newest season of her show.

7) There are a number of Guinness Book Records that can qualify as performance art since it often calls for a large amount of people being in one place and doing one thing all at the same time. That is not necessarily art, however, I would count the one in November of 2009 in Fort Worth Texas at the Stockyards Championship Rodeo. It was the most people twirling lassos simultaneously. It was a beautiful sight as all 23 lasso champs twirled their lassos above their heads for a steady two minutes. The sky-view was particularly impressive.

8) Arizona has long been considered a center for artwork both old and new. However, it does tend to cater to more of a traditionalist audience. Angela Ellsworth decided to shake things up with her show called "Underpinnings" in 2010, which was a tribute to the earlier pioneering female performance artists (of the 60's, 70's and 80's), where Performance Art allowed many of them their first opportunity for true self-expression. Ellsworth's models were dressed plainly as the multiple wives of polygamist religions - conservative, dowdy even. Long fake braids completed their outfits. However, then they roamed through the gallery silent in mime armed with objects used in the past. One had a machine gun, one a rag stuffed in her mouth, one a flashlight. The flashlight was used to light up the crotch of another. This kind of Performance Art is used to shock the audience. This exhibit did just that.

9) Allan Kaprow was one of the earliest Performance Artists and the concept of "Happenings", which became wildly popular in the 1960's. He preferred to interact with his audience and often made the audience become part of the art. Kaprow's Performance Art was his way of integrating art and life. He eschewed the static canvas. Through his "Happenings" the separation between life, art, artist, and audience becomes blurred. The artist can experiment with motion, sounds, spoken texts, and even reactions to smells. One of Kaprow's earliest "Happenings" was the "Happenings in the New York Scene," written in 1961 as the form was developing. At the time many in his audience likely enjoyed a drug-enhanced experience.

10) The United States does not have exclusive ownership of Performance Art. In fact, in many countries artists have had to fight very hard to be allowed to perform their art publicly. In japan, Seiji Shimoda is the most active and respected performance artist. However, this was not always so. In Japan he was arrested by police twice in 1979 and 1984, because of his naked outdoor performance. In each time he fought for freedom of expression against police.

But today in Japan he is one of best well known artists in the performance art scene, and his report by writing and video-tapes about performance art festivals in various countries in the world are very precious in Japan. He now organizes yearly an International Performance Art Festival in Japan that is widely respected and attended by people from around the world.

His best known piece "On the Table" was started in 1990 and investigated the meaning of human gathering. This was performed in 20 different countries, theaters and museums, and acclaimed as one of the most important works in the world.