Performance is a weird aspect of contemporary art. I understand performativity, using aspects of performance to, say, build up an artist's persona, but I always felt that performance art itself was a bit dated, a seventies throwback, yukky Meat Joy stuff, all sound and arty. Nevertheless, if we look at the success of Performa in New York, I guess we can conclude that it is a living and vital aspect. Still, not my favourite past-time, which might explain why I missed Jennifer Lovemore-Reed's performance Clown, Bag Lady, Sycophant at Erdmann last year (Though, I can't find it on the Erdmann website. Rumour is that they had a falling out, maybe she was erased from the records?). I did however attend her new show last night Remnants, Relics and Reasons, and bizarrely enjoyed myself. Kathryn Smith gave an interesting speech, partially about how the show was an autopsy of a work, and partly following the interesting legal case of MassMoCA and Swiss artist Christoph Buchel (a bit of a tentative connection, but interesting anyway).
What the show aimed to do was break down the performance Clown, Bag Lady, Sycophant into it's component remnants, relics and reasons. It was an interesting process, something that we seldom see: the guts and warts of a show, which Kathryn called very brave. My problem was that I didn't find it brave enough. If the original performance was put on to counter the artist's fear of performing (which it apparently was), then revisiting it makes that fear more important than the content of the show... like the rush of the performance itself is addictive, and the rest falls by the wayside. I feel that this could have been countered if the artist had a stronger persona, and more shows behind her. Then the objects, banal by themselves, could have taken on greater significance. Her own semi-clad presence in the gallery, taped mouth and all, was not enough to make me fascinated by these objects. She needed a stronger presence. It seems to me that it would have been braver to put on new work.

On the other hand, it was definitely work that kept me thinking, and if it's sole reason was to pose questions about what performance means, then it was a success, if a bit of a self-reflexive one.

Labels: ava, jennifer lovemore-reed, performance