Pleasure and Pain and Their Representations in Contemporary Performance Art (A Philosophical Study)

Abstract

Abstract

          The current study examines "Pleasure and Pain and Their Representations in Contemporary Performance Art: A Philosophical Study" and is structured into four chapters. The first chapter is dedicated to outlining the methodological framework of the study, which includes the research problem focusing on analyzing pleasure and pain in contemporary performance art. It also presents the research objective: to identify pleasure and pain and their representations in contemporary performance art from a psychological perspective. The research boundaries are confined to the works of contemporary performance artists exhibited in galleries across Europe and the United States, as well as private collections, spanning from 1974 to 2015.

The second chapter consists of two sections: the first addresses "Pleasure and Pain from a Philosophical Perspective", while the second discusses "Contemporary Performance Art". The third chapter details the research methodology, where the researchers adopted a descriptive approach to analyze a sample of three performance works, using indicators derived from the theoretical framework.

The fourth chapter presents the results, the most notable of which is the observation that representations of pleasure are evident in all the analyzed samples of contemporary performance art. For instance, in Sample (1), pleasure is represented through the purpose of the work, which advocates for goodness, virtue, and justice, particularly highlighting the plight of a marginalized group—Native Americans (Indigenous peoples).

The main conclusions include: Most contemporary performance art combines pleasure and pain in a dialectical relationship where these two variables alternate. At times, pleasure is vividly displayed in the scene, while at other times, it fades away to be replaced by pain, resembling the dynamics found in stories and novels.