The transgressive mouth in live art and its relationship to the audience.

Bartram, Angela (2009) The transgressive mouth in live art and its relationship to the audience. PhD thesis, Middlesex University. [Thesis]

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Abstract

The relationship between audience, site and artwork has been explored through this thesis, which analyses the effect of my performances on the audience. These performances, which provide the empirical research, identify ways in which the behaviour of the human mouth appears transgressive and abject when viewed at close proximity. Specifically, this is enacted through a
series of considerations concerned with the performer and their presence, and orality. Orality is used here to define the significant role the mouth plays in the
categorisation of acceptable and unacceptable human behaviour in this research. The condensed oral experiments that constituted the ritual of this practice, included acts such as spitting, licking and sucking. These situated my performing body as ‘woman’, as ‘transgressor’, and as one positioned as ‘other’ to the audience by her actions. Through an examination of the effect of these performances, this thesis explains and analyses the connections between performer and activity, between performer and audience, between animal and human, and the context of site and social relations. It articulates and accounts for the performance methodology by critically addressing the concerns they are engaged with.
The artworks discussed are acts that set up spaces of transgression, interrogation and reflection, aiming, thereby, to subvert the observer’s benign neutrality. The thesis concludes by claiming that evaluative observation of the performing self and her effect on her observers is made explicit and understandable as a dynamic part of these performances. It acknowledges the role of the audience, when placed close to it, as integral and implicit to the work. The conclusions drawn develop the debate and understanding of the relationship between audience, site and artwork in live art practice that includes female and animal bodies, and this gives it significance.

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