Preformance Art Intervention

My Activism Performance 

1. Read / Listen to what may come

2. Think about who it may affect you or a loved one in your life

3. Write down the story

As a symbol of migrants, I will create a butterfly out of the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R53vbPGVBso&ab_channel=kobisanchez

The artist's artworks, such as Yoko Ono and Shaun Leonardo, connect to my performance intervention because both Ono and Leonardo hope to shed light on issues that aren't visible to the eyes of the audience. In Shaun Leonardo's case, he is representing the social injustices of Black and Hispanic people and the use of stereotypes based on how he appears to the community. Utilizing his performance activism, he brings these issues straight to the audience by giving the people what they want. Still, instead of actually fighting, he fights an invisible man, showing the violence and the concept of hyper-masculinity. Ono silently allowed the audience to cut her clothes off within "Cut Piece," and it showed how far humanity will go if there is no shame or restrictions within a society. My performance piece connects to such artworks because its purpose was to shed light on the upcoming policies that may affect us and our loved ones. I intended to get the participant to separate their political beliefs and recognize what may become within the first 180 days of his presidency. I wanted those to think of their families. How they got here, invoking emotion for those who desire to come here for a better life, but now many legal possibilities for many to legally stay within the United States are being stripped. 

Black Square by Kazimir Malevich's

This artwork symbolizes the revolution, and Malevich utilized art as a weapon in the struggle. Malevich desired to go against the church by creating a piece that didn't help the church reinforce its power. His art aimed to go against the Orthodox Church, its immense political control, and the Czar Aristocracy. His art's purpose was to make the audience rethink traditional ways of art and change art from something legible and straightforward to something that forces the audience to think and question. 

Shaun Leonardo's performance

This performance artwork was Shaun Leonardo vs. The Invisible Man, in which he battled an invisible opponent. This shows that his battle is not only physical but also against all social stereotypes and obscurity, which presents an internal struggle within Latinos/black people and other people of color. His purpose was to allow the audience to perceive and be highly involved in the performance, as they forget that this is just a performance or spectacle and think more deeply about what his performance means.

He intends to show the audience the hidden stereotypes paired with people of color. He simultaneously critiques the spectacle of violence and hyper-masculinity and uses this performance to make sense of his identity.

Quotes from the textbook:

Chapter 3:

"We often think of performance as something that manifests action. Here, it allows us to visualize and act out our dreams, to “demonstrate” our convictions, or to pre-sure our ideals. In addition to this, performance is functional for dramatizing what already exists. Sometimes, reality needs to help the civil rights movement’s “performance reality” better."

Performance allows the audience to see what the artist wants to show them and provides them with good thoughts about how the performance may affect them or their friends. It allows the artist to clearly and purposely affect the audience with their art.

"Artists and activists are continually operating within a cultural context. An activist needs to learn how to use popular culture to be heard and understood, but they also need to know how to transform it so that it speaks to and for their own cause."

Knowing and acknowledging popular culture is always a good way to gain the audience's attention. They are lured into things they already know rather than challenged with unfamiliar material. Once the audience is comfortable, you can ask questions and invoke thoughts and emotions because of your credibility and because you are integrating what they love into your work. 

"It’s entertainment, not art. However, pop culture serves the same function as high culture: it represents society as it is or aspires to be. Like high culture, it, in turn, becomes a model for how society thinks and behaves. "

As an artist and as the audience, popular culture is the way into the audience's mind and heart. The audience will open up to someone who has similar interests and cares to share about it. Although Popular culture may be detrimental to historical culture, as a performance artist/ activist, you can use these pop culture references and material to challenge the audience and question what is good and wrong.

"Symbols are the first engaging with popular. It's the meaning of"

Performance Activists and Artists must find a subject who stands for what they are fighting for. Once they identify what will resonate with their message, they should create symbols to be remembered. Guerilla Girls wear masks that resonate with their audience and stand out to people who have never heard of their movement. This draws people into both their identity and their purpose.