Documents 

First published in 1979, now extensively updated and expanded, this pioneering book has been supplemented by the definitive account of the current technological, political and aesthetic shifts in performance art that mark its transition to the twenty-first century. Performance art is now at the forefront of current art. An astonishing increase in the number of works and venues around the world testifies to this art form as the chosen medium for articulating 'difference' whether dealing with issues of identity, multiculturalism or globalism. The desire for direct engagement with today's most prominent artists explains the wide appeal of performance art to the ever broader audience for new art in the museums. Mariko Mori, Paul McCarthy, and Matthew Barney, as well as the groups Forced Entertainment and Desperate Optimists, among many others, can now be seen in the historical context of other innovators in the field from the Dadaists to Laurie Anderson. [editor summary]