Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity


Text

An essay by Claire Bishop



This essay is presented on delegated performance in which nonprofessionals are hired to perform at a particular time on behalf of the artist on his or her instructions. The author stated that this social turn started since 1990s in contemporary art against the tradition of 1960s and 1970s where artists like Chris Burden, Vito Acconci and Gina Pane performed themselves. The author referred to the trend of live installation started in Europe in 1990s in which guards for exhibition were hired. The Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan assembled a soccer club of foreigners to play local matches in 1991.

Bishop, Claire, “Delegated Peformance: Outsourcing Authenticity” (2012). Faculty Publications and Research. Paper 45. (link)

Originally published as Bishop, Claire. “Delegated Performance: Outsourcing Authenticity.” October no. 140 (Spring 2012): 91-112. (http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/octo)