Performance Art from Futurism to the Present [A Linda Montano Chicken Book]
One of Linda Montano’s “chicken books”, a series limited to 111 books and periodicals from Montano’s personal library, each one decorated with an original gouache or pencil drawing by her of a chicken (perhaps in ecstasy?). The “chicken drawings” range from small compositions to full-page explosions. All drawings are unique and original. Most copies bear the written statement: “From the archive of Linda May Montano.” The edition itself is the product of a performance of sorts. The books reflect many of Linda Montano’s deepest and most consistent interests: feminism, performance, spirituality, Asian and Native American thought and religion, and individual artists. Most of the books contain contributions by or about her, Book conditions runs from cloth binding in dust jackets to a few well-worn mass-market paperbacks.
Performance Art from Futurism to the Present : First published in 1979 and now extensively updated, this pioneering book has been expanded with a definitive account of the technological, political and aesthetic shifts in performance art that mark its transition to the twenty-first century. An astonishing increase in the number of works and venues around the world testifies to this art form as the chosen medium for articulating “difference,” whether dealing with issues of identity, multiculturalism or globalism. The desire for direct engagement with today’s most prominent artists explains the wide appeal of performance art to the ever broadening audience for new art. Mariko Mori, Paul McCarthy, and Matthew Barney, as well as the groups Forced Entertainment and Desperate Optimists, among many others, can now be seen in the historical context of other innovators in the field from the Dadaists to Laurie Anderson.