There are no prerequisites for this course.

This course concerns performance not as a theatrical showcase staged for the spectator but as a series of actions or gestures that the artist carries out just for their own sake.

In the context of art history, this view derives from the idea of ‘action painting’ (Harold Rosenberg, 1952), where the process of executing a painting was regarded as the work itself, with the resultant painting merely as its record. Giving the most importance to the artist’s doing rather than what they produce or exhibit, this radical shift from artwork/object/result to artist/action/process has been a dominant mode in contemporary art up until today.

In this course, you are encouraged to apply this ‘performative turn’ to your own practice. You will develop a new body of work to approach your own artistic concern differently, with performance as its main medium or methodology. We will also trace the genealogy of performativity by examining various significant works from history, crossing various fields such as conceptual art, Fluxus, experimental music, postmodern dance, and contemporary practices, each as a source of information, subject of reenactment/reinterpretation, and inspiration for your experiment.

Your performance can take any form, but you will be primarily suggested to exploit the ‘conceptual’ procedure: you set simple instructions, follow them absolutely, and see and accept whatever happens. In line with what ‘perform’ etymologically means—‘carry out what is demanded’ (per=completely / fornir=provide)—this is the basic method of performativity, which helps you go beyond your own cerebral ego and open your working process to chance and coincidence.

Most importantly, this course considers ‘performance’ as a highly private experience: it’s something you do purely by yourself and for yourself. Unlike theater (thea=seeing), performative actions or gestures do not have to be shown or communicated to others (while to 'share' it wth others has its own significance in that it inspires the percipient to perform their own actions). Here, performance is not a way of self-expression but that of self-reflection, exploring who and what you really are as a holistic being—as an open part of the world.

This course is ideal for you if you:

• Have developed a certain artistic practice based on your own concern (and need something fresh to move ahead).
• Are sometimes skeptical if the things you make are really your work: perhaps your action to make them or your gesture to contexualize them is the real work.
• Are interested in employing performance as a possible trigger to revise the form, method, or style of your work.
• Are troubled with the limitation of your inner creativity and want to open up your working process to things external to you.

Artistic Practice

Responding to a series of homework and in-class assignments focused on four main types of performativity defined by the tutor (namely passive, auto-active, counter-active, and inter-active actions), along with occasional physical exercises (reenacting historical pieces individually or collectively, etc.) and mental exercises (making up your own interview by rewriting existing artist interviews, etc.), you will develop a number of performance or performative works in consultation with the tutor, re-approaching and refining your own artistic concern.

At the end of each phase, you share your work with the class. It could be either performed live or presented by means of immediate physical outputs (any objects using whatever materials or mediums) or visual, indirect documentations (photography, video, text, etc.).

Normally, a small exhibition to 'share' the participating students' works will be organized after all the curriculum is done (participation is not obligatory).



Lectures and/or tutorials

Lectures by the tutor to introduce various works from history and today, while also outlining the genealogy of performativity across different fields. Possible subjects include: Action painting (Jackson Pollock, Harold Rosenberg); Experimental music (John Cage); Happening (Allan Kaprow, Hi-Red Center); Fluxus events (George Brecht, Yoko Ono); Postmodern dance (Yvonne Rainer, Steve Paxton, Simone Forti, Trisha Brown); Conceptual art (Douglas Huebler, Vito Acconci, On Kawara, Lee Lozano); Video art (Bruce Nauman, Bas Jan Ader, Peter Campus); Fashion (Martin Margiela, A.F. Vandevorst); Institutional critique (Michael Asher, Andre Cadere); Lecture performance (Hito Steyerl, Walid Raad); Delegated performance (Tino Sehgal, Alexandra Pirici, Claire Bishop). With one or two guest artist lectures(s) on their own performative practices. Individual tutorials tailored for each student take place as well.

Photocopied or scanned pages of the text to be discussed in each lecture will be given in advance or on site. Images of the performative works discussed will be put on screen.

Permanent evaluation (attendance of the contact hours) + assignment evaluation (performance pieces and research homeworks).