Chapter 1
The performance art trap
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Chapter 2
Pop art and the plagiarism panic
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Chapter 3
The data overload nightmare
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Chapter 4
The circus of collective action
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YOUR GOAL
Master of Larry David's guide to surviving contemporary art this fall
Ch 1 · The performance art trap
andy The Performance Art Trap
Sit in the chair, / the guard pulls the stick, / the box slams shut.
andy Artists have used the human body to disrupt elite art spaces since the Dada movement of the 1910s.
andy Performance art challenges our social conditioning about when it is polite to walk away.
Fun Fact
Staring contests: Marina Abramović's 2010 MoMA performance 'The Artist Is Present' lasted 736 hours, during which she sat silently opposite 1,545 strangers.
Glossary
performance art (noun)
An art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance. In September 2026, David escaped an interactive Chelsea exhibition by pretending to be a security guard.
An art form that combines visual art with dramatic performance. In September 2026, David escaped an interactive Chelsea exhibition by pretending to be a security guard.
Quiz
What major 1910s avant-garde art movement first popularized performance and anti-art disruptions in Europe?
Quiz
Which choreographer took over MoMA's Marron Atrium in September 2026 with the performance exhibition 'nowhere'?
Quiz
In performance art history, what term did artist Allan Kaprow coin in the 1950s for cooperative, interactive art events?
Quiz
If Larry David were analyzing a performance art piece, what would be his main social complaint?
Quiz
What is a major difference between a traditional theater play and a museum performance art piece like 'nowhere'?