In many ways, this book resembles a field survey by authors who are also active in their area of research; dealing with political, contextual and gender-related issues, it proposes an epistemology of performance art through an investigation of the means and methods of access to knowledge and understanding of this art form, its history and (living) memory, its current practice. This work represents a follow-up to the international symposium entitled “Performance Art: Life of the Archive and Topicality,” organized by the Villa Arson and AICA France with the support of the Getty Research Institute; it investigates the definitions and status of performance art now that it has taken its rightful place within the extended field of the visual arts, leading to the current boom in performance re-enactments. The analyses proposed by the various specialist contributors— art critics, art historians, exhibition curators, philosophers and artists—are diverse and complementary but centered on an issue fundamental to performance art: the archive and the status of documents, photographs and objects that constitute or testify to performances.

Published following the eponymous symposium organized with AICA France at Villa Arson, Nice, in October 2012.