Existere: Documenting Performance Art

When photography and film fail to capture the live moment in performance, how can it be documented? What are the consequences of choosing non-visual documentation, on the authorship of the artwork, on maintaining a legacy that reflects the artist's practice, and on the control the artist has?

The London based Anglo-Swiss-Slovakian artist collective JocJonJosch negotiated these issues around Existere, a project in which they worked with naked volunteers to create a living performance sculpture in July 2011. This audio was recorded live this May, at the ICA's panel discussion on the subject.

The panel, which includes Jo Melvin, art historian, curator and lecturer; David Gothard, director and former artistic director of Riverside Studios, poet John James; and Rye Holmboe, PhD candidate and writer, respond here in conversation to Existere and the issues of documenting performance art without images. A publication on the Existere was launched, email JocJonJosch for more details.

This event was initiated by the ICA Student Forum, you can read their response to the talk here.