Artists as performers have radically altering our notion of what constitutes visual art. This text puts forward a method for teaching the subject as a discipline distinct from dance, drama, painting or sculpture.

Performance art is a unique movement which first became popular in the 1950s, this finely illustrated text is the first of its kind to outline the essential characteristics for students of contemporary theatre and performance. Examples are cited from leading performance groups and practitioners such as Bobbie Baker, Orlan, Stelarc, Annie Sprinkle, Robert Wilson, Goat Island, and Station House Opera. Anthony Howell is founder and director of The Theatre of Mistakes - a performance company of the seventies noted for its work in galleries as well as in theaters.

Introduction to the Series Acknowledgements List of Plates Preface
1. Stillness 2. Being Clothing 3. Mimicry and Repetition 4. The Other and the other 5. Inconsistency, Catastrophe and Surprise 6. Cathexes and Chaos 7. Drives and Primaries 8. Transitions as Desires 9. Transference, Substitution and Reversal 10. Language 11. Time and Space 12. Cathexes of Desire 13. Looking at Light 14. Presence or Puppeteering 15. Conclusion
Appendices Bibliography Index