There are many interpretations for the terms durational and endurance art, but what connects them is the central element of time. Edward Scheer defines durational art as: “[…] an art practice that accentuates the passage of time as a key to understanding the work.” (2014), whereas Performance Art Resources defines it as a process where the audience “surrender[s] themselves to attending to a process unfolding” (2024). To me, both of the above definitions encapsulate the essence of durational performance. Time passing in a key part of the philosophy, commentary and function of the work, and the artist and the audience committing to the process of something, often emotional, unfolding.
I have chosen to use the term durational performance over endurance art in this process. I feel as if the term endurance art holds a connotation of struggling, of an unpleasant experience, which is not my aim in KODISTA (Of Home, Homing). Rather than committing a strenuous act over time, I created a reflective space where the audience can sink into a pocket of time that exists outside everyday commitments, and therefore the term durational art felt more fitting and gentle description.
Performance Art Resources points out that it can be argued that any non-material art could be classified as durational as it unfolds over time – but the difference is in the way the element of time is utilised in the performance; “[the] difference is in attending to timings of actions (pauses, rhythms, tempo) vs. attending to the action and presence of time” (2024).
The questions of experiencing time are central in this work, and my personal experience of living in a modern society is at the core of these observations. In KODISTA (Of Home, Homing) time becomes the key element in the performance itself; the repeated action within a prolonged time, as well as the subject matter of experiencing time and memories from the past, and reliving them in the present moment.
Lara Shalson talks about duration and different understandings of our experience of time ranging from the notion of clock-time which was introduced during the industrial revolution to alternative ideas of how we experience it (2012). Philosopher Henri Bergson investigated the notion of time as opposed to the idea of clock time as; “Duration is what we experience when our consciousness ‘forms both the past and the present states into an organic whole, as happens when we recall the notes of a tune, melting, so to speak, into one another” (2001, p. 100). This is the essence I wanted to create in the performance KODISTA (Of Home, Homing) as opposed to the everyday lives in which we measure our experiences against the clock constantly. Shalson continues: “Importantly, although duration is intimately tied to the consciousness of a living body, it is also something we must endeavor to experience” (2012, p. 101).
Durational and Endurance Performance Art - Performance Art Resources
One of the big names in the early era of durational and endurance art is Tehching Hsieh, whose series of five One Year Performances performed between 1978 and 1986 marks the shift in how the question of time is discussed in performance art. Edward Scheer comments on the essence of Hsieh’s work: “There’s something deliciously anarchic about allowing time to take over our lives in the way that Tehching did, and I think that’s a very interesting dynamic, in the one year pieces.” (2014, p. 49). Hsieh’s work is seen as blending the barrier between art and life and the trivial idea of time passing, and therefore making everyday life a form of art. “[…] in the Time Clock Piece (1980–81), in which that central restriction of activity to one hour, every hour, that intensely regulated practice, still allowed […] a kind of loss of the sense of his commitment to other forms of temporality. By intensely focusing on the time signature of daily life to an utterly absurd extent, he actually freed himself from it” (p. 49-50).
I knew I wanted to show an example of real life, to give a piece of me in this performance rather than utilizing fiction. The blending of the boundaries of the everyday and the art in Hsieh’s work inspired me to embrace the personal stories and memories as the material in KODISTA (Of Home, Homing). Additionally, his dedication to strong conceptual ideas guided my process of creating this performance – I began the process knowing I wanted to create a concept-driven piece instead of a story-driven one.
Art About Waiting — and What It Takes to Endure (Published 2020)
The Path of Performance: In Conversation with Tehching Hsieh