A performance is called a scenic representation that is provocative or shocking.
The term performance is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) . However, we could establish that this term is an Anglicism that has been formed from the verb perform , which can be translated as "act or interpret." The word, in any case, is very common to name a certain sample or scenic representation that is usually based on provocation .
At the beginning of the 20th century is where the origin of this type of artistic and cultural manifestation is found, since it was then that certain characters linked to the futurist movement created trends, betting on other peculiar ways of showing their ideas, their emotions and their way of understanding the world. art. However, it would not be until the 1960s when performance began to gain greater relevance at an international level.
Among the many topics that can be addressed through these cultural manifestations, those that have had the greatest prominence throughout History have been love, fear, loneliness, the cruelty of human beings, nature, the evolution of the universe. …All of them have been shown and presented through acrobatics, painting, theater or choreography, among other alternatives.
What is a performance
A performance, therefore, tries to surprise the public either because of its theme or its aesthetics. These types of actions are linked to improvisation , conceptual art and happenings (artistic manifestations that contemplate public participation).
For example: "An amazing performance by the plastic artist amazed museum visitors" , "The painter promised to perform a live performance, where he will create works with organic materials" , "The musician's failed performance earned him numerous criticisms" .
The idea of performance can refer to the performance of an athlete.
Main features
One of the most important characteristics of a performance is that it takes place in a specific place for a specific time. The performance takes place live and exists while the artist makes his proposal, unlike a traditional exhibition .
Sometimes, the most important thing about the performance is not its content, but the place where it takes place. There are artists who develop performances on public roads or who improvise artistic manifestations in places that are unprecedented for art , such as a supermarket or a video game store.
The performances of Beuys and Nitsch and the flashmob
There are many figures who are considered to have become icons of the world of performance. However, among all of them, the German Joseph Beuys would stand out significantly, who showed his artistic qualities by resorting to the use of elements such as animals, paper or straw, among others.
Likewise, we should not overlook Hermann Nitsch, an Austrian artist who has achieved worldwide fame for the provocation of his works. And they do not hesitate to include various ancestral rituals that are classified as wild.
There are those who consider flash mobs to be performances, although they have no artistic intention. These are groups that launch an organized action in a public place, doing something unusual (such as a pillow fight or giving out free hugs). Sometimes flash mobs have a political purpose.
Synonym of performance
The notion of performance is also usually linked to performance . An athlete can have a good or bad performance depending on his performance.
"The athlete had a great performance in the last competition" is an expression that shows this type of use of the concept.