Intermediality and Performance Art (original) (raw)

Intermedial interaction among various media or sign systems has always existed in most cultures, but since performance art is a relatively new phenomenon, this chapter focuses on the relationship between intermediality and performance art. With the increasingly frequent use of sophisticated digital technologies in multimedia performance, the relationship between intermediality and performance art has moved into sharp focus. What happens when several media interact in performance art? What is the relationship between intermediality, performance and performativity in multimedia art forms? How does the sense of openness and of unraveling of the source or pre-text translate into the intermedial adaptation that a performance involves? This chapter discusses issues of semiotics, performativity and self-reference in relationship to intermediality. For its application of these theoretical concerns, it will use Laurie Anderson, the American performance artist, whose large and complex multimedia productions have not only revolutionized the art form but which also offer interesting insights into the adaptation of the intersection of narrative, visual, musical and gestural source texts mediated by new technologies and the performing arts. Intermedial interaction among various media or sign systems has always existed in most cultures, but since performance art is a relatively new phenomenon, this chapter focuses on the relationship between intermediality and performance art. With the increasingly frequent use of sophisticated digital technologies in multimedia performance, the relationship between intermediality and performance art has moved into sharp focus. What happens when several media interact in performance art? What is the relationship between intermediality, performance and performativity in multimedia art forms? How does the sense of openness and of unraveling of the source or pre-text translate into the intermedial adaptation that a performance involves? This chapter discusses issues of semiotics, performativity and self-reference in relationship to intermediality. For its application of these theoretical concerns, it will use Laurie Anderson, the American performance artist, whose large and complex multimedia productions have not only revolutionized the art form but which also offer interesting insights into the adaptation of the intersection of narrative, visual, musical and gestural source texts mediated by new technologies and the performing arts. Keywords: intermediality, performance art, performativity, self-reference, self-reflexivity, multimedia, Laurie Anderson