Ontology of Performance: Representation without Reproduction (Article Sample)

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Ontology of Performance: Representation without Reproduction
Article Review
In 1993, Peggy Phelan published the essay “The Ontology of Performance: Representation without Reproduction,” in which she argues for considering the performance as an art form. She encourages viewers to pay attention to the temporal dimension of performance. She claims that performances are undervalued today because people tend to prioritize reproductions due to their relatively higher economic benefits for artists. She argues that performance is a unique art form with special conventions and aesthetics.
Peggy Phelan argues that we frequently conceive performance as a sequence of acts or behaviors in her article “The Ontology of Performance: Representation without Reproduction” (Phelan, 2017). Still, it is a discrete collection of traits that describe a way of being. Enaction, indirection, intangibility, and embodiment are essential to Phelan's performance understanding. Phelan questions the common assumption that performance is about executing specific actions or roles when it is, in reality, about being.
Peggy Phelan’s article The Ontology of Performance: Representation without Reproduction lays out the history of performance art alongside the writings and performances of influential performance artists. Kate Gilmore’s Video, appearing on pages 78-81, is a great example that resonates with the artist’s statement. Gilmore refers to her work as a “self-portrait,” and her aim seems to be “to show how I relate to the world around me: through difficulty, pain, endurance, and joy.” These are situations that almost anyone can emotionally connect to at some point in their lives. Her work appears very personal, but she allows us to connect with her deeper by depicting it as performance art.
In the introduction to this article, Phelan clearly and logically defends her claim that “performance cannot be readily contextualized within a visual arts tradition because the ontology of performance art differs f