Self-mutilation. Russian roulette. Crucifixion. It’s all
in a day’s work for some performance artists.
Performance art takes many different forms to fulfill many
different purposes, and its validity and value in the world of art
is often open to interpretation.
The inherently ambiguous nature of art ““ particularly the
typical abstractness of performance art ““ can leave the line
between good art and bad taste blurred.
“People have different tastes on what makes good art or
meaningful art,” said Chris Waterman, the dean of the UCLA
School of Arts and Architecture.
“It’s hard to lay down guidelines.”
This distinction came to a head after a Nov. 29 piece performed
by Joseph Deutch, a 25-year-old graduate student, led to, in part,
the resignations of two art professors.
As part of his final project, Deutch pulled out what appeared to
be a revolver, witnesses said, loaded it with a bullet, spun the
chamber, put the gun to his head, and pulled the trigger. The gun
did not discharge and Deutch left the room, at which point the
members of the class heard a gunshot.
Several weeks later, on Dec. 20, husband and wife art professors
Chris Burden and Nancy Rubins resigned, citing the
university’s failure to suspend the student as part of the
reason.
The two were not present at the performance.
Burden told The New York Times in a Feb. 5 article that the
university “created a hostile and violent work
environment” by refusing to suspend Deutch.
Burden, a conceptual artist, is known for several performance
art pieces he performed in the early 1970s. The performances
included “Shoot,” in which Burden was shot in the arm
with a rifle; “Through the Night Softly,” in which
Burden rolled through 50 feet of broken glass; and
“Transfixed,” in which he was crucified over a
Volkswagen.
Some students who were present at the performance have said the
professors have blown the incident out of proportion and that
Deutch’s performance had artistic merit.
“I think the performance was really provocative,”
said Stephen Bowersox, an undergraduate student who was in the
class.
But Arthur Sabatini, an associate professor of performance art
at Arizona State University West, said Deutch must make significant
and enduring contributions to the art community before his Nov. 29
performance could be considered art.
“Art is made by artists. To call a gesture by a student in
a stunt (art) ““ it is not a work of art,” he said.
“If 20 years from now he’s still making work and
he’s an artist, (then) there’s significance to what he
did,” Sabatini added.
“Those who stick in the game and have something to say
““ that’s what an artist is,” he said.
As for performance art itself, determining what is good art can
be tricky and paradoxical.
“Performance art has a variety of depths and seriousness
and can even be effective when it’s ineffective,”
Sabatini said.
Likewise, Bowersox alluded to the complexity of performance art
in determining what is successful art.
“I think a lot of performance art has unnerving
tendencies, but I think unnerving tendencies are useful,” he
said.
But Waterman said in a university setting ““ even in the
art school ““ art is not necessarily the ultimate goal of all
students and professors.
“It’s not just a matter of making art,” he
said. “We’re a place where ideas are important.
Critical inquiry is really the point.”
With reports from Sara Taylor, Bruin reporter.