Sherman Fleming

In Kristin Stiles’ article about the work of Sherman Fleming, I particularly was interested in the ways in which Fleming attempts to communicate to his viewers in his performances. Fleming prefers his performances to be “populist,” perhaps because performance art has gradually become removed from popular notions of the visual arts (page 36). Fleming believes that artists who tend to avoid conventionalizing their art can unfortunately lose their audience and an understanding of their work (page 36). Fleming employs movement, such as dance, in order to connect with his viewer and make his work easy to identify with: “‘I think that dance, like in Ax Vapor, really hits people somewhere around here,’ (he points to the lower chakras: the region of the hear, guts and sexual organs) (page 36).”  Stiles notes the importance of performance and its connection to the viewer, “This ability to capture the mind of the observer through the physical magnetism and movement of the body is of cardinal significance in performance and one of the central means by which the quality of the work may be judged (page 37). I admire that Fleming attempts to make his performances understandable to his audience, and even considers how to spread this connection without viewers feeling threatened by his work (page 36). But how much should a performance artist concern him or herself with making their work understandable? Not every viewer will be able to connect. Should the notion of connecting with the viewer always be considered by the artist when first developing a new performance work?