Performance Artists Talking in the Eighties

Abstract

With a particular interest in the connection of childhood experiences to an artist’s production, Linda Montano interviewed over 100 performance artists from 1979 to 1989 on the themes of sex, food, money, fame, ritual and death. Grouped according to these thematic categories, each section of interviews is accompanied by a short essay. A general introduction by A. Festa discusses art and everyday life, the autobiographical voice and talking performances, vis-à-vis Montano’s work and the history and nature of performance art. K. Stiles’s afterword considers this era of performance art in relation to certain social conditions of the times, with examples of performance art’s influence on other art forms and on society. Includes subject index and brief biographical notes on artists and authors. 71 bibl. ref