State of the Art: Your Weekly Guide to NYC's Latino Art Openings

There is little information on the site about each performance, so you might not know what you’re getting yourself into. This impromptu-element is intrinsic to performance art, and can force you, the audience member, to be taken out of your routine thoughts. As opposed to visual arts, performance art takes a more confrontational approach in interacting with the audience and usually encourages participation.

Last Friday, I attended a performance act by the collective La Pocha Nostra, headed by the Chicano artist Guillermo Gomez-Peña and before it began I had no idea what to expect. The exhibition space had no stage, and there was no clear line between audience member and performance artist. However, once the actors began to perform, the spatial designations became more clear and “stations” of performance became visible. One of the actresses, a bare-chested blonde with a feather headpiece and an outfit like Sheeva from Mortal Kombat, paced between the audience members. She wore platform combat boots, a dark red corset and wielded a bat. Another station in the act had an acupuncturist pressing needles into a naked woman’s body. Little flags with corporate logos like McDonalds, H&M and Zara were attached to the ends of the needles. The fluctuation of my reactions created a type of emotional confusion as the actors experienced violence, idolization and eventually transformations.

Some performances might inspire offense and others might not be as confrontational or shocking. It’s simply important to know that performance art is not your run-of-the-mill gallery show. It accentuates passions and human emotions that sometimes lie dormant or untapped in our psyches. You can access the full list of performances here, but here are a few happenings I think might be interesting: