Performa 11: RoseLee Goldberg on the Biennial's Evolution and Theatrical Turn

Performa, the New York-based biennial dedicated to performance art founded by art historian RoseLee Goldberg in 2005, held its fourth edition in November 2011. The event took place across multiple venues in New York City, from museums and galleries to the High Line and a Williamsburg restaurant, featuring over 120 artists curated by 35 curators. Goldberg, who published the seminal book "Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present" in 1979 (reissued in English in November 2011), conceived Performa as a platform to commission new performances from visual artists, many of whom had never worked in live performance. The 2011 edition focused on language and explored connections between theater and performance, with commissions including Elmgreen & Dragset's "Happy Days in the Art World," Laurel Nakadate and James Franco's "Three Performances In Search of Tennessee," and Shirin Neshat's "OverRuled." Goldberg emphasized that unlike festivals, Performa commissions original works and centers performance within the visual arts. The biennial also engaged with historical themes, referencing Russian Constructivism and Fluxus, and featured politically charged works such as Liz Magic Laser's "I Feel Your Pain" and the newspaper "Broken English" by Julieta Aranda and Carlos Motta, which addressed Occupy Wall Street. Goldberg described Performa as an antidote to frivolity in the art world, aiming to refocus on ideas and creativity.