Performance Art Now ‘10
A festival of live performance in the Visual Arts @ Dublin Art Mill
The Performance Art Live Foundation (IRL)
Three days of live performance, with an emphasis on durational performances presented as living installation by the artist, followed by a day long symposium on live performance practice today.
Over the four days of the festival we intend to focus on the work of both renowned international performance artists, the exciting practice of Irish live artists, as well as providing a platform for emerging artists working with live performance. We are focusing on artists who have live performance as the central tenet of their practice and who work as artist-performers. This festival is distinctive providing an in-depth focus on Performance Art.
Performance art is a slippery, uncertain term and through this festival, via the work and critical discussion, we will investigate performance practice in this, it’s second wave. The festival will critically and viscerally engage with performance in the Visual arts today.
Each day 4 artists will perform simultaneously in living installation for a four-hour duration. The exhibition will be curated to include an international artist, established Irish artists, alongside new emerging artists.
List of Artist/Performers:
Day 1
Dominic Thorpe, Ireland
Brian Connolly, Northern Ireland
Victoria Mc Cormack, Ireland
Ann-Maire Healy, Ireland
Day 2
Francis Mezzetti, Ireland
Sandra Johnston, Northern Ireland
Pauline Cummins, Ireland
Alex Conway, Ireland
Day 3
Alastair Mac Lennan, Northern Ireland
Anna Bernston, Sweden
Mebh Redmond, Ireland
Niamh Murphy, Ireland
The International Context
Live performance in the Visual Arts is in the process of coming in from the periphery and into the canon of the contemporary gallery. In 2009 New York’s MOMA appointed Klaus Biesenbach as their first Curator in Chief for Performance Art. In July of the same year, for the exhibition Marina Abramovic presents... the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester cleared its permanent collection and installed 14 durational performances for three weeks. Our festival will explore the impact of these seminal developments within the infrastructure of the art world, the re-framing of performance art within it, and subsequently the effect this has on Irish live practice.
The Irish Context
Irish people have a special relationship and enthusiasm for all things live from sport to music, theatre to storytelling. Within this cultural context Ireland has developed a vibrant and outstanding practice in performance art making. Of the 14 international artists included in Marina Abramovic Presents... at the Whitworth Gallery, Alastair Mac Lennan, Kira O’Reilly and Amanda Coogan are Irish or live on the island.
The influence of Mac Lennan’s practice on both contemporary Irish Art and international live performance cannot be underestimated. Andre Stitt has suggested the richness of performance practice in the Irish Visual Arts is a by-product of the Troubles, that the conflict, placed on the artists body from the late 70’s, became key to the development of Irish performance practice. The late ‘loop’ plays of Samuel Beckett have been cited as an important legacy in the emergence of Irish live performance in the visual arts. The festival symposium will strive to explore these ideas and theories.
The Symposium
The festival will culminate with the symposium which will reflect on ideas based around the question of contemporary live performance in the visual arts. During this we will address the status of performance art both nationally and internationally with our exhibiting artists and academics in the field. Potential topics may include;
A festival of live performance in the Visual Arts @ Dublin Art Mill
The Performance Art Live Foundation (IRL)
Three days of live performance, with an emphasis on durational performances presented as living installation by the artist, followed by a day long symposium on live performance practice today.
Over the four days of the festival we intend to focus on the work of both renowned international performance artists, the exciting practice of Irish live artists, as well as providing a platform for emerging artists working with live performance. We are focusing on artists who have live performance as the central tenet of their practice and who work as artist-performers. This festival is distinctive providing an in-depth focus on Performance Art.
Performance art is a slippery, uncertain term and through this festival, via the work and critical discussion, we will investigate performance practice in this, it’s second wave. The festival will critically and viscerally engage with performance in the Visual arts today.
Each day 4 artists will perform simultaneously in living installation for a four-hour duration. The exhibition will be curated to include an international artist, established Irish artists, alongside new emerging artists.
List of Artist/Performers:
Day 1
Dominic Thorpe, Ireland
Brian Connolly, Northern Ireland
Victoria Mc Cormack, Ireland
Ann-Maire Healy, Ireland
Day 2
Francis Mezzetti, Ireland
Sandra Johnston, Northern Ireland
Pauline Cummins, Ireland
Alex Conway, Ireland
Day 3
Alastair Mac Lennan, Northern Ireland
Anna Bernston, Sweden
Mebh Redmond, Ireland
Niamh Murphy, Ireland
The International Context
Live performance in the Visual Arts is in the process of coming in from the periphery and into the canon of the contemporary gallery. In 2009 New York’s MOMA appointed Klaus Biesenbach as their first Curator in Chief for Performance Art. In July of the same year, for the exhibition Marina Abramovic presents... the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester cleared its permanent collection and installed 14 durational performances for three weeks. Our festival will explore the impact of these seminal developments within the infrastructure of the art world, the re-framing of performance art within it, and subsequently the effect this has on Irish live practice.
The Irish Context
Irish people have a special relationship and enthusiasm for all things live from sport to music, theatre to storytelling. Within this cultural context Ireland has developed a vibrant and outstanding practice in performance art making. Of the 14 international artists included in Marina Abramovic Presents... at the Whitworth Gallery, Alastair Mac Lennan, Kira O’Reilly and Amanda Coogan are Irish or live on the island.
The influence of Mac Lennan’s practice on both contemporary Irish Art and international live performance cannot be underestimated. Andre Stitt has suggested the richness of performance practice in the Irish Visual Arts is a by-product of the Troubles, that the conflict, placed on the artists body from the late 70’s, became key to the development of Irish performance practice. The late ‘loop’ plays of Samuel Beckett have been cited as an important legacy in the emergence of Irish live performance in the visual arts. The festival symposium will strive to explore these ideas and theories.
The Symposium
The festival will culminate with the symposium which will reflect on ideas based around the question of contemporary live performance in the visual arts. During this we will address the status of performance art both nationally and internationally with our exhibiting artists and academics in the field. Potential topics may include;
- The Artists presence in live performance
- The impact of 70’s performance on contemporary practice
- Duration and it’s relationship to performance
- Performance Art- Coming in from the cold
- What is the legacy of Irish performance artBoard of Performance Art Live Foundation, Ireland
- Amanda Coogan, Curator. A performance artist working primarily in live durational performance. Coogan is recognised internationally as being to the forefront of the current wave of performance art. She brings to P.A. Live her experience of participating in a number of international performance festivals and performing her work live in museums and galleries in Ireland, Europe and America.
- Niamh Murphy, Curator. A performance artist and recent graduate of IADT, Murphy has an emerging and exciting practice. She brings to P.A. Live a dynamisim, enthusiasim and experience not only as an emerging artist but also as a live cabaret performer.
Dominic Thorpe, Curator. A visual artist working primarily in live performance. He works uses site specific and relational processes in developing and presenting work. He is invested in the development of Irish performance art and brings to P.A. Live particular experiences of working with various groups of people to develop and present work.
Jimmy Fay, Non Executive. A theatre director with substantial experience producing live performance in both avant-garde and traditional theatre. His experience of setting up and founding the Dublin Fringe festival may be particularly helpful to P.A. Live. Fay has also documented a number of live performances, most notably he filmed Coogan’s performance video Adoration currently on tour with the exhibition Noughties but Nice.
John Kenny, Non Executive. A Visual Artist and curator and recent graduate of IADT. Kenny will bring his vibrant experience of exhibition management and artist collectives to P.A.Live.
Helen Carey, Non Executive. A Visual Art Curator who has commisioned and produced many live performance in the Visual Arts most notably Coogan’s recent durational performance for Tulca; Yellow-expanded. She sits on the board with both curatorial and managerial skills to assist P.A. Live.
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