26/10/2022
Today I'm going to talk about two art forms: Performance and Happening.
To distinguish them two, it's kind of difficult. From what i got from research, a Performance is generally written in advance, while for a Happening performance, the starting point and how the event unfolds is what makes the work. So, the more it interacts with the public, the closer it is to a Happening.
One of my favourite performances must be Marina Abramović's "Rhythm 0" (1974, Naples). The work involved Abramović standing still while the audience was invited to do to her whatever they wished, using one of 72 objects she had placed on a table. I think this would count as a Happening. It shows how giving people too much freedom can make them wild.
"Over the six hours, the audience could use any of the objects and interact with her immobile body in any way they saw fit. Amongst the vast array of objects were items like a gun,a knife, perfume, chains, flowers and lipstick. At first, viewers were hesitant and generally gentle, offering her a rose to hold or writing on her body, but soon turned violent. Her clothes were ripped from her body, her neck was slashed with a razor blade and her blood drank from the open wound. The performance finally culminated with the artist being given the loaded gun to hold, pointed at her temple, at which point gallery staff stopped the spectacle and removed the gun." (Sotheby's https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2022/women-artists/rhythm-0)
I also added a Happening with the title "It Wasn't Me" by Anonymous.