This practice as research study investigates undergraduate dance students’ perception of shock within performance art. Since the 1970s, performance art has become a recognised art form in its own right, and with key practitioners such as Abramović and Ulay celebrating 50 years since their debut and new creatives following in their footsteps, it feels appropriate to look back and examine the relationship between performance art and shock art.
Collecting data from primary and secondary sources such as literature, critical reviews, and questionnaires, this study demonstrates that there are many themes considered to be shocking in performance art. It argues that nudity, violence, and endurance are common themes for a performance art piece to be considered shocking. These themes allowed the artist-researcher to create a body of work to showcase the themes discovered from using category construction from the data collected. Using action research alongside practice as research allows for the artist-researcher to reflect on the process whilst concluding the findings on all the investigations.
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