Free art piece idea #46
This one is called “Among you”. This piece takes root in and pioneers the hyperrealist performance art movement. Not unlike Free art piece idea #44 — “Guerilla therapy”, it revolves around a group of artists intervening in the real world. Unlike “Guerilla therapy”, hyperrealist performance art generally and “Among you” specifically do not aim at altering reality and changing its course. Rather they simply mimic it and hope, by doing so, to subtly alter its behavior.
- The old woman in the bus — Hyperrealist performance artists will be seen disguising as an old woman and asking for a seat in buses and subways. They will then publish, for each city they perform in, the ‘courteous index’ which is a factor, among other things, of the number of minutes waited before the fake old woman got to sit and the number of seats offered in the meantime.
- The sad man and the happy billboard — Hyperrealist performance artists will disguise as a very sad man and stand next to a very happy billboard. They will wait there for several hours with no practical outcome but mirroring reality.
- The silent couple at the table next to us — Two hyperrealist artists will sit facing each other in a restaurant and exchange no words. They will then pay the bill and leave.
Hyperrealist performance art draws on Duchamp’s ready-made art, The Truman Show, immersive theatre plays (Sleep no more etc.) and a long heritage of performance artists (Segal, Abramovic etc.). It mimics reality to mirror it to the viewer. The question remains however: How does one know who is involved in a hyperrealist performance around one and who is not? How does one know they are not themselves involved in such performance?
The only way to know that Hyperrealist performance artists are performing nearby is to download an app that pinpoints where these performances are happening in the city around you. The app will also indicate the name and allure of each artist. You can then go to the area indicated by the app and attend the performance. It is highly likely you will be the only one to know that this performance is taking place. And that is very well and fine.
