Week 6

Performance art makes me wonder. In each of the three pieces, heavy issues are dealt with so candidly, which just seems to be so different than the other forms of art we've studied in this class. Rather than taking the issues with much intensity, and creating almost a divide between the art and the audience, the performance art includes the audience as part of the piece. In Bustamante's piece Indigurrito, particularly, white males from the audience are called up onstage to eat a burrito strapped to Bustamante, as they absolve their wrongdoings. Is this audience participation forcing the audience to get the message in a more immediate way? Does audience participation encourage a more active response from the audience, rather than the usual passive, after-the-fact response that other art forms suggest? This type of performance art, which speaks to events that are happening both currently and have happened in the past, bring to light a special shared experience, which is very important to the cause. By directly including the audience in the artistic experience, the artists are forcing the audience to think and ask questions now. Does performance art that includes audience have the ability to reach an audience in a more immediate way than even traditional theatre performance or does it merely alienate the participants and audience alike?