Drawing during performance art
Drawing during performance art can add a dynamic quality to a piece of work. It loosens up the hand, mind and therefore, the marks made on the paper. This is due to the increased urgency of interpreting the scene in front of you, getting your marks down on the paper and the unpredictable movement of the performers. I find this process short-circuits the left brain and enables a freedom of expression that would take me longer to access, when there is not so much of an urgency. The longer the drawing session, the more immersed I am in the act of drawing, similar to a state of meditation. I find my drawing becomes more fluid and the movement is apparent. Some of my personal favourites of my drawings have come out of these moments. I recommend it to anyone who would like to explore their own drawing process. I began to experiment with drawing during these events after seeing performances by New Noveta and Anne Imhof. Ellen and her partner, Keira Fox, the duo that is New Noveta have staged many a performance around the world. I met them after cycling in, on a rain soaked Sunday evening, at the venue, a dark, dank basement in Dalston, London. The event turned out to be an unforgettable, anxiety ridden performance involving a crate of fish from Billingsgate Market, purchased that morning. I have long resolved to produce a painting inspired by their performances and I am currently working on a painting of Ellen Freed. Anne Imhof’s ‘Faust’ at the Venice Biennale was also a performance I had the opportunity to observe and be enthralled by. Both New Noveta and Anne Imhof's performances and installations speak volumes about this era we live in; anxiety, emotional trauma or absence, despondant youth, waste, technology, and the inherent interaction of the audience. Having the opportunity to draw during the process, while these subjects are expressed, I feel I can immerse and explore a vivid representation of them that can nourish my artistic practice.
Performance art is a form of art in which the artist uses their body, actions, and presence as the medium of expression. For me, drawing a performance is exhilarating and enjoyable. I find Butoh performances particularly interesting and captivating. Butoh is a form of Japanese avant-garde dance that emerged in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Known for it’s unique and often surreal movements, it places emphasis on the exploration of the subconscious and the human condition. Butoh was developed by a group of Japanese artists as a reaction to the cultural and political changes occurring in post-war Japan. I first got the opportunity to draw a Butoh performance by Do Not Question Yourself Out of Existance Collective during the Dronika Festival, London, in 2017. Last month I took the opportunity to draw at the Royal Academy of Arts, London, at the Marina Abramović exhibition. Abramović is known for bringing performance art into the mainstream, pushing her body and mind to the extreme.
Additionally, I have found the method of drawing performances a useful when turning the concept on its head. A performance can be made for a drawing just by moving yourself around to different objects, scenes and views while drawing. Accidental forms, free-wheeling interpretation and expression can emerge on the page from this technique. Accident is something which led Francis Bacon to breakthroughs in his paintings, something he spoke about often in his interviews with David Sylvester. My drawing, Bacon and Egg I and the subsequent paintings evolved from this concept. Many of my ideas for paintings evolve out of both these drawing processes.
