The Object of Performance: The American Avant-Garde since 1970 by Henry M. Sayre

by Henry M. Sayre

Henry M. Sayre defines for the first time the apparently diffuse avant-garde art of the past two decades in terms of its distinctly post- modern concerns. The range of arts discussed here encompasses contemporary dance, photography, oral poetics, performance art, and earthworks.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Art History

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Henry M. Sayre is a Distinguished Professor of Art History. He has written several books on his subject.

Sayre was born in Boulder, Colorado in 1948.

Reviews

[Methuselah]

It took me almost a year to read this book. Parts of it are extremely dense and demand close reading. My endurance tended to run out after fewer than 10 pages. Prior knowledge of critical studies would have helped. I also wish I had taken notes. I'm sure I will encounter this material again as I am going to study art at uni in the fall.

The artists themselves and their works were very enjoyable to read about. I was grateful for penetrating coverage of artists I was already familiar with to varying degrees like Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Lucinda Childs, and Carolee Schneemann. But I think I most enjoyed the chapter on earth works, particularly on the problems posed by Robert Smithson's works, including Spiral Jetty and Incidents of Mirror-Travel in the Yucatan, of how documentation affects the presence of the work in our imaginations (or us in the works' imaginations). I feel I learned something valuable about the temporal and spatial nature of work which holds space for the audience to enter/disturb.

While I don't know that I would voluntarily read the book cover to cover again, the introductory chapter explaining the shift from formalism/modernism to antiformalism/postmodernism is invaluable alone. The rest of the book could serve as thoughtful reference material.