In Focus: Performance Art
This week at Artsome we are exploring the dynamic medium of performance art, which is becoming a widely popular avenue for artists to reach out to their viewers. The beauty of this genre lies in its variability; the fact that one can perform, exhibit, protest or contest absolutely any possible theme. Just like theatre, performance pieces are more impactful in putting across an idea.
In today’s list, watch videos of pieces created by five South Asian artists who have made waves with their innovative performances.
A UK-based artist, Patel questions notions of identity, language and accent in his work Who Am I? Think Again for a TED talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPhHHtn8On8&t=2s
A Bangladeshi artist, Tayeba enacts the role of bridesmaid and groom juxtaposed together in a single frame in this video titled I Wed Myself (2010).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rP4aL61EPC8
Nikhil Chopra’s recent work called Blackening III: Bay 19 (2012) shows him donning the role of a Victorian-era draughtsman, Yog Raj Chitrakar, and performing various actions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3GR_JEeXBw
A photographer cum performance artist from India, Pushpamala N teams up with poet Mamta Sagar in this piece titled Motherland to explore issues of freedom and captivity.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isjYOdo2VNE
Gupta’s art addresses a wide range of themes such as psyche, society, polity and nation to articulate their repressed contents. Her work Shadows III (2006-2007) is one such example.