| Summary: | This dissertation concerns the socio-cultural politics expressed in the performances of
Matthew Barney, Steven Cohen, Marina Abramovic, and the ‘Pop’ artist Madonna. The
contention is that these artists mirror and dramatize marginalization and seem to reflect a
desire to resolve conflicts experienced between social and psychological identities in
contemporary society. The premise of this study is that these performers engage in a
‘dialogue’ with viewers as a form of self-preservation and self-healing.
The Performance artists’ measure of socio-cultural tensions suggests the merging of mass
media entertainment, theatrical devices and other cultural practices such as fetishism and
rituals involving altered states of consciousness, props and allusions to shamanism. An
ancient modality of healing, such as shamanism, when appropriated by artists, seems to
reflect an urgent phenomenological need of the individual within Western society for
overcoming feelings of powerlessness as a type of therapeutic practice. The Performance
artists’ Othering is acted out as a survival mechanism addressing and questioning the
‘degradation’ imposed on marginalized individuals who challenge the traditional notion of authentic identity and the ‘classic’ body. === Art History, Visual Arts and Musicology === M.A. (Visual Arts)
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