Diverse Assembly: Some Trends in Recent Performance

Abstract

The artists I want to discuss are working through a number of contradictory traditions — essentially fine art performance, experimental theatre and new dance. My chosen range across these practices stems neither from their having merged into one (they haven’t) nor from some desire that this should be the case, but rather from the presence here in the UK, as elsewhere, of a significant zone in which these disciplines meet. Whilst any level of crossover is partly a function of the funding and distribution systems, which are shared by these forms to a notable degree, it’s also due to the intentional pluralism of form and context employed by artists. Not only are artists in these essentially transgressive forms moving across these three areas of practice, they’re also, as a matter of course, taking influence and making links with many wider, more diverse areas of culture. From my position as an engaged artist (writing text and directing with Forced Entertainment Theatre Co-Operative since its foundation in 1984), and as a regular commentator on the field, I want to give a sense of what for me are some of the key concerns and common notions addressed by artists in recent years.