TeresaMacrì
Teresa Macrì is an art critic, writer and independent curator working in the field of visual culture. Her most recent published books include: Slittamenti della Performance, Vol. 2, Anni 2000–2022, Postmedia Books (2022); Io mi manifesto, Gli ori (2022); Enciclopedia dell’arte contemporanea, Treccani (2021); Dimitris Papaioannou, Trans/Form, SilvanaEditoriale (2021); Slittamenti della Performance, Vol. 1. Anni 1960–2000, Postmedia Books (2020); Pensiero discordante, Postmedia Books (2018); Fallimento (2017), Postmedia Books. She lectures on the Phenomenology of Contemporary Art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome. She writes for the daily newspaper Il Manifesto.
THREE-YEAR COURSE
Course content
The course is based on the history of performance art, a subject that is currently attracting considerable interest. In previous years, we analysed its origins in the 1960s, when performance art initiated an expressive journey and became a symbol of a protesting identity, and then traced its methodological developments up to the early 2000s. This year, the course focuses on analysing the changes and, consequently, the discontinuity that performance art has undergone from 2000 to 2022, exploring its various, more innovative and contemporary forms. Through delegated performance and the appropriation of public space, performance art has been revitalised. The course will therefore focus, through a compelling exploration, on the most significant international artists, including Tino Sehgal, Nico Vascellari, Cesare Viel, Vanessa Beecroft, Sissi, Alessio Bolzoni, Anne Imhof, Marcello Maloberti, Ragnar Kjartansson, John Bock, Enzo Umbaca, Jacopo Miliani, Jeremy Deller, Francis Alÿs, Marinella Senatore, Theaster Gates and Andreco.
Exam texts
Compulsory for the June exam:
Macrì T., (2022), Slittamenti della performance. Volume 2, Anni 2000–2022 Postmedia Books, Viareggio,
1 text of the student’s choice for those taking the exam in the September 2023 session and subsequent sessions:
Beccaria M., (2014), Costruire comunità, Marinella Senatore, Mousse Publishing, Milan
Beccaria M., (2000), (ed.), Vanessa Beecroft, Performances 1993–2003, Skira, Milan
Butler, J., (2013), La vita psichica del soggetto. Teorie del soggetto, Mimesis, Sesto San Giovanni
Chiodi S., (2012), (ed.), Marcello Maloberti. Blitz, Quodlibet, Macerata
Lorber, J., (1995), L’invenzione dei sessi, Il Saggiatore, Milan
Macrì, T. (2020), Slittamenti della performance. Volume 1. Anni 1960–2000, Postmedia Books, Milan
Nancy, J.-L., (2014), Il corpo dell’arte, Mimesis, Milan
O’Reilly S., (2011), Il corpo nell’arte contemporanea, Einaudi, Turin
Pfeffer S., (2017), Anne Imhof. Faust, König Books, Cologne
Pietromarchi, B., (2018), Nico Vascellari. Revenge, Manfredi Edizioni, Imola
Pozzati M., (2016), (ed.), Sissi. Motivi ossei, SilvanaEditoriale, Milan
Sileo, D., (2019), Cesare Viel. Più nessuno da nessuna parte, SilvanaEditoriale, Milan
Turner, V., (1986), Antropologia della performance, Il Mulino, Bologna
Vergine L., (2002), L’arte in trincea. Lessico delle tendenze artistiche 1960–1990, Skira, Milan
Recommended textbook:
Foster H., Krauss R., Bois Y.-A., Buchloh B., (2013, 2nd edition), Arte dal 1900. Modernismo, Antimodernismo, Postmodernismo, Zanichelli, Bologna
TWO-YEAR COURSE
Course content
The course is based on the history of performance art from its origins to the year 2000. In the 1960s, performance art ushered in an expressive journey in which it became the symbol of an identity that challenged both existing social categories and artistic practices. From the physical excesses of Gina Pane, Ana Mendieta, Marina Abramović and Ulay, Vito Acconci, Chris Burden and the Viennese Actionists, to radical feminists such as Judy Chicago, Carolee Schneemann and others, via the stateless artists such as Coum Transmission, Leigh Bowery, Luigi Ontani, Urs Lüthi, Rebecca Horn, James Lee Byars, Hélio Oiticica and many more, and culminating in the corporeal reappraisal of Black Identity by David Hammons, Adrian Piper, Senga Nengudi and Lorraine O’Grady, performance art has enacted its own transformative dimension.
In the 1990s, the body shifted from its organic fixity to the mutability of the posthuman era, where Matthew Barney, Jana Sterbak, Janine Antoni, Paul McCarthy, Mike Kelly, Bruce Nauman and others explored bodily geometries to imbue them with new postmodern meanings, and the post-organic body, hybridising organic and inorganic matter, became the horizon within which performers such as Orlan, Marcel·lí Antunez Roca and Stelarc, through prosthetics and nanotechnology, revitalised performance art at the turn of the millennium.
Exam reading list
Compulsory reading for the June exam:
Macrì T., (2020), Slittamenti della performance. Volume 1, Anni 1960–2000, Postmedia Books, Milan Volume 1, Anni 1960–2000, Postmedia Books, Milan
1 text of the student’s choice for those taking the exam in the September 2023 session and subsequent sessions:
Butler, J. (2013), La vita psichica del soggetto. Teorie del soggetto, Mimesis, Sesto San Giovanni
Various authors, (1999), Mike Kelly, Phaidon, London
Akers M., (2012), Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present, Feltrinelli, Milan
Barbero L. M., (2007), Luigi Ontani. MarmArmonia, Charta, Milan
Celant G. et al., (1993), Rebecca Horn, Guggenheim Museum, Publications, New York
Dusi N., Saba C.G., (2013) (eds.), Matthew Barney. Polimorfismo, multimodalità, neobarocco, Silvan, Milan
Fouchelle M.C., (1990), Corpo e chirurgia all’apogeo del medioevo, Il Melangolo, Genoa
Giacomelli G.E. (2014), Di tutto un pop. Un percorso fra arte e scrittura di Mike Kelley, Johan & Levi, Monza
Haraway, D. (1995), A Cyborg Manifesto, Feltrinelli, Milan
Lorber, J., (1995), L’invenzione dei sessi, Il Saggiatore, Milan
Nancy, J.-L., (2014), Il corpo dell’arte, Mimesis, Milan
O’Reilly S., (2011), Il corpo nell’arte contemporanea, Einaudi, Turin
Risaliti S., (2020), Autoritratto come Odisseo. Azioni di Jannis Kounellis dopo il 1960, Quodlibet, Macerata Azioni di Jannis Kounellis dopo il 1960, Quodlibet, Macerata
Turner, V. (1986), Antropologia della performance, Il Mulino, Bologna
Vergine L., (2002), L’arte in trincea. Lessico delle tendenze artistiche 1960–1990, Skira, Milan
Recommended textbook:
Foster H., Krauss R., Bois Y.-A., Buchloh B., (2013, 2nd edition), Arte dal 1900. Modernismo, Antimodernismo, Postmodernismo, Zanichelli, Bologna
Course content
The course is based on the history of performance art, a subject that is currently attracting considerable interest. In previous years, we analysed its origins in the 1960s, when performance art initiated an expressive journey and became a symbol of a protesting identity, and then traced its methodological developments up to the early 2000s. This year, the course focuses on analysing the changes and, consequently, the discontinuity that performance art has undergone from 2000 to 2022, i.e., through its various, more innovative and contemporary forms. Through delegated performance and the appropriation of public space, performance art has been revitalised. The course will therefore focus, through a compelling exploration, on the most significant international artists, including Tino Sehgal, Nico Vascellari, Cesare Viel, Vanessa Beecroft, Sissi, Alessio Bolzoni, Anne Imhof, Marcello Maloberti, Ragnar Kjartansson, John Bock, Enzo Umbaca, Jacopo Miliani, Jeremy Deller, Francis Alÿs, Marinella Senatore, Theaster Gates and Andreco.
Exam texts
Compulsory for the June exam:
Macrì T., (2022), Slittamenti della performance. Volume 2, Anni 2000–2022 Postmedia Books, Viareggio
1 text of the student’s choice for those taking the exam in the September 2023 session and subsequent sessions:
Beccaria M., (2014), Costruire comunità, Marinella Senatore, Mousse Publishing, Milan
Beccaria M., (2000), (ed.), Vanessa Beecroft, Performances 1993–2003, Skira, Milan
Butler, J., (2013), La vita psichica del soggetto. Teorie del soggetto, Mimesis, Sesto San Giovanni
Chiodi S., (2012), (ed.), Marcello Maloberti. Blitz, Quodlibet, Macerata
Lorber, J., (1995), L’invenzione dei sessi, Il Saggiatore, Milan
Macrì, T. (2020), Slittamenti della performance. Volume 1. Anni 1960–2000, Postmedia Books, Milan
Nancy, J.-L., (2014), Il corpo dell’arte, Mimesis, Milan
O’Reilly S., (2011), Il corpo nell’arte contemporanea, Einaudi, Turin
Pfeffer S., (2017), Anne Imhof. Faust, König Books, Cologne
Pietromarchi, B., (2018), Nico Vascellari. Revenge, Manfredi Edizioni, Imola
Pozzati M., (2016), (ed.), Sissi. Motivi ossei, SilvanaEditoriale, Milan
Sileo, D., (2019), Cesare Viel. Più nessuno da nessuna parte, SilvanaEditoriale, Milan
Turner, V., (1986), Antropologia della performance, Il Mulino, Bologna
Vergine L., (2002), L’arte in trincea. Lessico delle tendenze artistiche 1960–1990, Skira, Milan
Recommended textbook:
Foster H., Krauss R., Bois Y-A., Buchloh B., (2013, 2nd edition), Arte dal 1900. Modernismo, Antimodernismo, Postmodernismo, Zanichelli, Bologna.