PERFORMA, feedback loop

In a CBC interview for "Wachtel on the Arts" (http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/4933370) the South African artist William Kentridge explains how his training in theater shaped his sensitivity to how the energy flows in an artwork. Kentridge, a member of the PERFORMA Curatorial Advisory Board and one of the many artists that performed during PERFORMA 09 in November, offers a clue to how to understand the PERFORMA's success. Founder RoseLee Goldberg has a talent for making good use of energy. How the energy flows from the themes, commissions, related performances, discussions, and writings literally into the streets of New York is awe inspiring to witness. My feeling is the force of PERFORMA is the connection between art making and cultural shaping as Sennett (see last entry) has observed. Goldberg’s skill is in how she carefully curates a series of performances to generate conversations about local issues with global significance. She selects biennial themes with deep historical roots that fuel contemporary ideas and actions. She commissions artists, often challenging them to explore a new form of expression or subject matter. These commissions become the core of the biennial conversation. The PERFORMA curators expand on these themes filling out the many faceted performance festival with nearly hundred related events. The dialog between the commissions and related work is then commented on by the growing community of written responses. The education events contextualize the biennial experience by supplying historical references and engaging discussions from which the seeds of future commissions grow. RG, as writer and historian, is able to activate and reflect on commissions simultaneously, like a cultural time warp feedback loop. The trick will be how to expand, follow the flow of energy, and be inclusive of new interest, while maintaining that deeply reflected core.