Performa 09: Back to Futurism

RoseLee Goldberg in conversation with Shirin Neshat and Wangechi Mutu

Celebrating the newest publication by Performa Founding Director and Curator RoseLee Goldberg, Performa 09: Back To Futurism surveys the New York visual art performance landscape as it was during the last Performa biennial in 2009. Though it might seem a bit belated for the release of such a book, Goldberg’s intent is not just for the present, but for the “art historians of the future,” thirty years from now, who will use documents like this and the two previously published volumes to get a snapshot of what was going on with live performance art in 2009.

Joined by current and previously commissioned Performa artists Shirin Neshat and Wangechi Mutu, Goldberg began by directing the evening’s conversation to the artistic practice of moving between media, a topic discussed by Mickalene Thomas just the night before at her Studio Museum member walk-through of More Than Everything, an exhibition of the artist’s new work in polaroids and mixed media collages at Lehmann Maupin Gallery. Many artists use multiple media in their practice, but Goldberg brings clarity to this tradition through the lens of performance, as she subtly guided the conversation with pointed questions concerning the shifting nature of Neshat’s and Mutu’s work.

The conversation explored such themes of violence and protest in performance, audience engagement, documenting ephemeral events, and opening one’s self to the possibility of failure when creating a live performance piece. Each artist spoke sincerely of her fears when initially asked by Goldberg to go “live” with her work for Performa, revealing the processes that Neshat and Mutu would each undertake to transform themselves from the static characters seen in their photographs and collages to evocative live displays of power, violence, and emotion.

The talk was worth every minute, and gave valuable insight into the progression of an artist’s practice. Keep a look out for Shirin Neshat’s new commissioned piece for Performa 11 on November 11, an experience in which the artist hopes to break the boundaries between art and audience!