Chapter seven covers a variety of performance arts through a long time span, most of which create a commissure representing rejection to the contemporary arts of their time. This junction, rather rejection or protest in some cases, joined the artist physical body and expression to their personal agendas, which brings me to question that some may have been simply seeking fame and fortune. I am not disregarding some as true forms of art, nevertheless, “The punk aesthetic” (p. 181) may fit this emphasized junction.

     On page 151 Goldberg states ‘body art’ as a lose term that could represent a variety of performance types, one of which being “their own persons as art material” (p. 153). This type brings to mind Carolee Schneemann’s work, along with being relative to the attire introduced by the music bands of “The Sex Pistols or The Clash” (p. 182). Although with the Punk aesthetics in regard to attire of expressions, ‘living sculpture’ can be applied as well.

    As performing art has provided an excellent form to express political, cultural, gender or race discrimination, and/or any inequalities, the Punk aesthetics of music performance rejected political and social structure of their society in England, most likely due to the high unemployment of the youth during the 1970’s. This “disruptive and cynical” aesthetic art form did effect the “work of many performers” such as, “Cortez” and his attire, or Winters ending his performance “with a mock-suicide”, all of which may have been more to attract a larger crowd for personal notability and economics rather than cultural rejections or protest. Nevertheless, these types of performances reminded me of early Futurism or even Dada, which Goldberg outlines that “it came close to some Futurist performances, in that it rejected establishment values and ideas”. (p. 182)

     As an additional point of interest relating to performance art, or ‘living sculpture’, while visiting London in 1978, I observed a large number of youths on the streets that adopted the attire of the Punk aesthetics, wearing “safety pins” in their skin, “razor blades” hanging off their clothes and ears, facial “tattoos” and “torn” clothes, along with spiked hair. Although it may have reached the United States by that time, I had never seen it, and the authorities warned us to stay clear of them because it was a protest against the establishment. I remember thinking it was just a performance, much like a ‘living sculpture’, and though very dangerous to approach, that’s just what it was.