Art history timeline atlas
Performance, Video And Land Art
Art left the pedestal for the body, camera, desert, street, time stamp and document. Explore its context, materials, regions, movements, named works, and...
Postwar Experiments And Global Networks
Historical context
Portable video, television culture, feminist critique and anti-commercial experiments helped artists move beyond traditional objects.
Documentation became crucial because many works were temporary, remote or action-based.
How to look
- Look beyond one center. Postwar art moves through New York, Paris, Mexico City, Lagos, Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Seoul and many other networks.
- Notice how the artwork becomes action, environment, document, idea, institution critique, body politics or public argument.
Makers, works, and materials
Date range: c. 1960-1990
Regions: Americas, Europe, Asia
Media: Performance, Video, Land art, Documentation
Movements: Performance art, Video art, Land art, Fluxus
Makers to research
- Nam June Paik
- Ana Mendieta
- Robert Smithson
- Carolee Schneemann
- On Kawara
Named works to compare
- Early video installations
- Earthworks
- Performance documentation
The artwork after the artwork
If a performance lasts one hour, what remains? Photographs, scores, memory and institutional records become part of the work's life.
Legacy and why it matters
Performance, video and land art shaped installation, media art, ecological art, body politics and the current importance of documentation.