Copyright Ownership and Performance Art

By Nicky Frankel

From Yoko Ono’s demonstration of compliance in her work Cut Piece (1964) to Gina Pane’s display of Vietnam War rebellion in Escalade non Anesthésiée (1971) (Unanesthetized Escalation), performance art uses the human body as a medium for the creation of statements regarding class, race, gender, society, and political issues. However, the intangible nature of this art form, non-traditional in both its inception and execution, and its popularity in the modern art world raise concerns over the rights of performing artists with regards to intellectual property and copyright law.

Performance Art vs Performing Arts

Though it has no strict definition, performance art is a combination of both visual art and performance that is created to be carried out before an audience and, while it can be recorded as performing arts can, is intended to act as a live representation of the artist’s expression.^[1] These recordings are not only used for documentation purposes but can also be an artistic decision meant to freeze the moment in time.^[2] A temporal experience, performance art is reliant on audience participation and regularly, but not necessarily, includes the artists themselves in the exhibition. This, in part, differentiates performance art from the performing arts (such as music, comedy routines, dance, and theater), in which individuals–other than the work’s creator or audience–are utilized to communicate a distinct message. Rather than using bodies to portray a story, in performance art pieces, the body is art. Another differentiating factor is the interdependence fostered between the work’s creator and audience. As art critic and curator Lea Verigne would put it: