Performance and Permanence in Sixties Literature
What is art? Any generation of artists defines itself by the way it answers this question. The artists of the 1960s found their answer in the idea of art as experience. Art was not something that happened; it was something that happened around you, with you, to you. In the moment of creation, and in that moment alone, there was art. For artists of the Sixties, art was vibrant and alive, and thus to say a product was finished was simply to say it was dead. For literary artists this obsession with the fleeting now translated to a fascination with performance itself-a fascination that in turn cuts at the very heart of art itself. For if work must be performed to be truly experienced, then art is transient and irreproducible, and therefore barren. Art becomes local and mortal, tied to the life and influence of a single artist-unable to speak to those who were not there at the time. One cannot have it both ways; if we accept the preeminence of "the happening" and reject the notion of reproducibility, then art seemingly becomes smaller, diminished. This struggle between performance and permanence, between moment and monument, can be see as one of the central questions of the literature of the 1960s.
Experimental theater provides a useful example of the extreme form of this perception about performance art. Drama has sometimes been praised, sometimes been maligned, but it has undeniably been a type of literature for as long as literary study has existed, as important in its own way as poetry, and prose. Experimental theater challenged this notion in its sheer irreproducibility; it begs the question, "Can something be literary which only happens once, which fails to...
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...who would never and could never be touched by a single performance in a single place. For all its raw emotional power, perfomance art is unreachable to many in the present and totally inaccessible to audiences in the future. To truly matter-to exert any real change over the present, to reach past its moment of creation into the future-art must be more than its performance alone.
Works Cited
Biner, Pierre. The Living Theater. Takin' It To The Streets: A Sixties Reader, pp. 288-293. ed.
Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Kerouac, Jack. The Dharma Bums. New York: Pengiun Books, 1958.
Rader, Dotson. "Notes of Andy Warhol: His Life and Work as Death in America." Takin' It To
The Streets: A Sixties Reader, pp. 305-309. ed. Alexander Bloom and Wini Breines. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Bloom, Alexander and Wini Breines, eds. Takin' it to the Streets. Oxford University Press, New York, 1995.
Bloom, Alexander and Wini Breines, eds. Takin' it to the Streets. Oxford University Press, New York, 1995)
Bloom, Alexander and Breines, Wini. Takin' it to the Streets. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1995.
Warhol, Andy. The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: (from A to B and Back Again). Orlando: Harcourt, 2006. Print.
... master finally made it home. While Odysseus was gone, the suitors in Ithaca wanted to take over, but Penelope and Telemachus persevered. Most of Ithaca have lost hope for Odysseus but still “Penelope does not believe that Odysseus is dead (Father and Son).” Penelope has not yet given up on Odysseus. She has remained loyal to him and did not let the suitors take over Ithaca. She stood up for her husband that she has not word of for 20 years. Her strong loyalty allowed Odysseus to rule his kingdom once again when he arrived home.
Bloom, Alexander and Wini Breines. Takin' it to the Streets. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.
The Odyssey is a tale that has changed literature and storytelling. In this tale Odysseus is a Soldier from the battle of Troy trying to get home to his island of Ithaca, where he is king. His wife and son must wait ten years while he is trying to make his way home. In Odysseus’s absence wooer’s, or better known as suitors, learn of his absence and travel to Ithaca to win his wife’s hand in marriage. These men come every day feasting on Odysseus’s food and wine, and give his servant’s orders. His son Telemachus, does his best to keep the suitors from ruining his fathers house but he is only a boy, and doesn’t receive the respect of an adult. Telemachus then has a visit from the god Athena, whom Odysseus is friends with, who advises him to travel to find out about his father. In his travels he hears that Odysseus may still be alive. Meanwhile Odysseus goes through a series of adventures and hardships that prove his wisdom. It is interesting in contrast of the Iliad, even though Achilles was much stronger and a better warrior, Odysseus was portrayed as a greater hero due to his wisdom. He uses this wisdom to escape from the Cyclops.
Bloom, Alexander, and Wini Breines. "Takin' It to the Streets": A Sixties Reader. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
Homer’s poem The Odyssey depicts the tendency of people to ignore the consequences of their actions. Odysseus punished Penelope’s suitors without thinking of consequences that he would have to endure. He did not acknowledge the consequences because that would prevent him from doing what he wants to do. Odysseus wanted to kill the suitors; they ate away at his fortune. Finding consequences for murdering the suitors would force Odysseus to realize what he is about to do is not a good idea. Odysseus chose to ignore the consequences and killed the suitors anyway. Odysseus had absolutely no reason to kill the suitors; they had the right to stay in his home because Penelope made them feel welcome, Penelope and Telemachus both told them that Odysseus was dead, and although Telemachus told them to leave, he did not have the right to do so.
Bloom, Alexander and Wini Breines, eds. "Takin' It To The Streets". New York: The Oxford University Press, 1995.
Socrates, a Greek philosopher stated, "Look death in the face with joyful hope, and consider this a lasting truth: the righteous man has nothing to fear, neither in life, nor in death, and the Gods will not forsake him” (Socrates). This explains the basis for Greek beliefs that can be carried over to values and qualities of them. As in this, Homer, the author of The Odyssey, portrays many Greek values that make up a righteous man or as, Homer’s character Odysseus, an epic hero. The Odyssey is the story of King Odysseus' return from the Trojan War to his kingdom of Ithaca. Stories, like The Odyssey, are told with the intent of delivering a message that was important to their culture. Through characters and situations, The Odyssey promotes and emphasizes many important ancient Greek values such as hospitality, pride, and fate.
Bloom, Alexander, and Wini Breines. "Takin' it to the streets": A Sixties Reader. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1995. Print.
The main character is Dunstable Ramsey, Dunny for short. He is a very real character to me. The whole book is a letter that the old Dunny is writing to someone about his life. The way the author writes as Dunny is great. I can picture an old man sitting at a desk writing the letter. For parts of the story that have lots of detail, I imagine that the old Dunny remembers these parts of his life because they were important to him. For the parts he is vague about, Dunny writes that he would write more if he remembered more clearly. I think those are the times in his life that were not very important to him.
Wilson, E., & Goldfarb, A. (2008). Theater: the lively art (6th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Earth is the only planet in the Solar System that has liquid water. The ocean contains ninety seven percent of the earth’s water and covers almost three quarters of the planet. There are four different oceans, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, and the Arctic. Tides and currents occur in all three of these oceans. Many different kinds of fish and mammals also make their homes in these oceans. All of these oceans are connected to each other in some way. Humans find oceans to be very interesting, beautiful, and exploring.