Performance Art

When different arts merge in unusual and provocative ways, performance art is created. This seminar will engage in discussions, research, and creative projects regarding performance art—how it comes about, its place in our culture, and its aesthetic. Our focus and explorations will center on musical components. We will delve into the roots of performance art in the early nineteenth-century in writing and music, including work from Berlioz, Cage, Kagel, the Talking Heads, Laurie Anderson, Reich, and Glass concluding with the music/performance art of today. In addition, we will discuss the processes behind performance art, and create some of our own, culminating in a ‘concert’ of work. (A knowledge of an instrument or voice is desirable, though not required) 3 hrs. lect