Tag Archives: performance art

Finding Freedom: Artist Explores The Ocean In Underwater Wheelchair

Winona Dimeo-EdigerAugust 30, 2012 //
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Breathtaking.

Sue Austin is a performance and installation artist based in the UK. She has been wheelchair-bound since 1996, and dedicated her artistic work to “finding ways to understand and represent my embodied experience as a wheelchair user.” Most recently this goal has led her to team with scientists and diving experts to create a self-propelled underwater wheelchair. Using fins and a propeller, Austin is able to steer the machine with her feet and navigate a beautiful underwater world that was previously off-limits. Seeing her move through the water with ease and grace is both unexpected and powerful. Check out the video to see for yourself. [YouTube via Smithsonian]

Woman Gets Creative With 20 Blocks Of Butter

Ami AngelowiczApril 19, 2012 //
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I love me some good performance art involving food products. In the tradition of Karen Finley (the performance artist most well known for shoving a yam up her ass on stage), Melati Suryodarmo experimented with butter. In her performance piece called “EXERGIE — Butter Dance,” the Indonesian-born performance artist (who lives and works in Germany) became one with 20 blocks butter. Swaying to beat of drums in her LBD and black stiletto heels, she stomps, slips, falls and rolls in the butter. Then she gets up and does it all over again. It looks both oddly fun and extremely painful, kind of how I look when I roller skate. As for the deeper meaning of this butter dance: “Exergie” is a German word that translates to activate or exercise. Interpretations? [The Huffington Post]

Pregnant Performance Artist Pulls Off Live Birth

Amelia McDonell-ParryOctober 26, 2011 //
Remember that story about the pregnant performing artist in Brooklyn who was planning to give birth in a gallery in front of a live audience and call it art? Well, she did it. Yes, she did. She actually pulled it off. »
October 26, 2011
Source: The Stir

James Franco’s New Performance Art Dissects “Three’s Company”

Ami AngelowiczNovember 4, 2010 //

I was just about to forgive James Franco for signing on to appear in 20 episodes of “General Hospital” and calling it “performance art,” when I caught wind of his latest project. In his downtime from being a beat poet (“Howl”) and cutting off his arm (“127 Hours”), he has been hard at work on an adaptation of the late-’70s television show “Three’s Company.” Keep reading »

Frisky Rant: James Franco Thinks He’s Matthew Barney

Ami AngelowiczDecember 7, 2009 //

We were all scratching our heads in confusion when James Franco announced that he would be appearing on the soap opera “General Hospital.” But would I have called his decision performance art? Not so much. According to James, however, that’s exactly what it is. “I finally took the plunge and experimented with [performance art] myself when I signed on to appear on 20 episodes of ‘General Hospital’ as the bad-boy artist ‘Franco, just Franco,’” he says about his visionary concept in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal this weekend. So his film career isn’t in trouble, OK? In addition to the 20 episodes on the show, there is a piece de resistance to Franco’s “General Hospital” performance—he will film a final scene in a museum. Edgy. But seriously … why? Keep reading »

When Life Gives You A Breakup, Make Art

Catherine StrawnMay 12, 2009 //

Writers often turn their relationships — failed and successful — into stories and novels. But they’re not the only creative types spinning exes into gold. Recently, a few visual and performance artists have used dating and breakups as a starting point for their work. At least some people are finding uses for their relationship failures. We can’t seem to figure out what to do with our brokenheart. Keep reading »

Hot Footballer Flounces Around In Store Window Display For All To See

Susannah BreslinMarch 27, 2009 //

Andrea Vasa, a 30-year-old hot football — in other words soccer — player for Milan’s Brera team, is living in Dirk Bikkembergs, a high-end Italian store, parading around half-naked, lifting weights, and lolling about for anyone who happens to look in the windows. “Among the shelves and clothes hangers exposing the items that are for sale, Andrea’s personal clothes can be found, as well as the pictures and books he chose to take with him to his new home.” He’s got his own housekeeper and can invite over whomever he likes, but what if he wants to leave? “Before going out, Andrea will take a shower in a relax room papered with pages from Gazzetta dello Sport, compose his outfit for the following occasion, preen himself in one of the silver trophies, step into his Porsche and drive it out through a massive window that doubles as a garage door.” Fascinating! Too bad, Towleroad notes, the shower is the only part of the live-in scene that’s shielded from public view. Keep reading »

Woman Gives Microphone A Blow Job And Calls It Art!

Amelia McDonell-ParryNovember 20, 2008 //

It’s comforting to know that even if I were fired from my job during these tough economic times and couldn’t find a way to make a living, I could still wake up every morning and call myself an artist. This woman does! She performed fellatio on a microphone during a performance art exhibit! It’s rather symphonic — I wonder if she considers herself a musician too? [Via Buzzfeed] Keep reading »