In recent decades, performance art has undergone monumental evaluation, which can be depicted by comparing the two performances. The performances have one feature in common: the artists pay main attention to the process, not to the result, since the purpose of art is to convey an idea. Compared to the result, the artists’ acts are more important. Nevertheless, they express different feelings and choose diverse methods.
Conceptual art implies that the concept of work is more important than its physical expression. As for Niki de Saint Phalle, being present for these happenings, which demonstrate destructions, is crucial in order to understand the main idea of the author, who wanted to depict the moment of death and damage. With regard to Marina Abramovic’s performance, the moment when a person sits in front of the artist is the most important one; a viewer becomes part of the performance. In other words, actions play a crucial role in performance art, which “relies on the physical movement of the artist” (Frank 460). Thus, in the works of both artists, it is not the setting that is important but their actions themselves.
Concerning Niki de Saint Phalle’s action paintings, they represent violence, whereas Marina Abramovic’s performance is concentrated on calmness and inner feelings, and I would be willing to participate in it. Concerning the installations of de Saint Phalle, I think that she might be influenced by the feminist movement and modernism in literature and architecture. Violence and destruction are the ways in which she expresses the ideas of feminists; her color field paintings reflect the desperate struggle against patriarchy. Moreover, Niki de Saint Phalle’s paintings belong to Minimalism; it is “restricted in the use of visual elements” (Frank 460). Regarding postmodern Marina Abramovic’s performance, it represents the ideas of Neo-impressionism, implying the personal style in response to Minimalism.
To conclude, although the two performances concentrate mainly on the artists’ actions, they convey opposite emotions and ideas, showing the evolution of the performance art. Expressing anger at the world and fighting for women’s rights, Niki de Saint Phalle provokes the world by demonstrating violence and bright colors. Maria Abramovic, on the other hand, pays attention to the inner experiences of a lonely person and his feelings about another.
Work Cited
Frank, Patrick. Preble’s Artforms. 12th ed., Pearson, 2020.