Biografia w badaniach nad sztuką performance. Proponowane zakresy tematyczne i metody
Author(s): Łukasz Guzek / Language(s): Polish
/ Issue: 11/2014
Keywords: biography; biografia; performance art; methodology; art history; historia sztuki; sztuka performance; metodologia; Metamuzeum; Artur Tajber
This article presents a network of notions drawn mainly from Theory of the Avant-garde by
Peter Burger, the pragmatic aesthetics of John Dewey and Richard Shusterman, in terms of Krystyna
Wilkoszewska, and the relational aesthetics of Nicolas Bourriaud and it is supplemented by related
concepts such as ‘incontrology’. These notions form a proposal for the methodological categories around
which strategies can be created for the study of performative phenomena with emphasis on the (auto)
biography.
The concepts of the pragmatic aesthetics recalled above are defi ned so that they become useful
in the study whilst taking into account the changeability of the object of study. Pragmatism, by virtue of
its basic assumptions, as well as performance art forms by its nature, are guided towards the individual
and the practical life of the individual, and respectively - towards individual artistic practice. This tends
to include a biography in research and interpretation of single individual artworks, but most importantly
here, biography is one way to study art history, history of action art and the performance art discipline.
Action art history is the history of presentness. The history of performance art can be ‘told’ through the
history of performers.
Exemplifi cation is made up of examples gathered in the project Metamuzeum by Artur Tajber,
who invited artists-performers to participate in it using a biographical key. They are artists born in 1953
as Tajber himself, who share experience of the same generation: Jaap Blonk (Netherlands), Seiji Shimoda
(Japan), Roi Vaara (Finland). This set was completed by the artists invited by him to participate in a mini
festival of performance art entitled 1923-2013 Performance Art (MOCAK in Cracow). The starting point
of the festival was also the biography of the performers, this time celebrating in 2013 ‘full’ anniversary of
the birth: 1923 - this is the year of the birth of Jan Świdziński, who reached his 90th year, Stuart Brisley,
born in 1933 who reached his 80th year, Alastair McLennan, born 1943 who reached his 70th year plus
the previously mentioned ones born in 1953. It shows individual biographies building up performance art
on a global scale. The artistic biographies of the performers are a record of their journeys, but also part
of a record of the history of the discipline. In the examples (histories) collected by Tajber in the project,
individual biographies nearly overlap with the history of the discipline.
This case analysis shows the process of the development of performance art world wide and at
the same time its regional diff erences. We can see how the network - institution of performance art was
constructed and how it changes; its dynamics, its “rhythm of life” and follow Wilkoszewska who published
her book Art as the Rhythm of Life on Dewey’s aesthetics. The history of performance art is also, to a large extent, the history of performers’ journeys.
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