During the summer of 2024 I worked with Art History Professor Ross Elfline on his research project for his upcoming book that looks into the intersection of performance art and architecture in the US in the 1960s. Professor Elfline began this project when he found that there was a gap in the art historical scholarship on the connection between performance art and architecture. Reading academic articles and other publications, we researched the relationships between these two artistic fields. By the end of the summer, we had uncovered the vast network of artists across the country that collaborated with and were inspired by each other to create art that broke down presumed barriers between performance and architecture.
I began my research by familiarizing myself with the work that Professor Elfline had already done. As I situated myself in the 1960s New York City I learned that it was the epicenter of the art world in the 60’s with most, if not all, of the seminal artists of the time passing through. Joan Jonas and Trisha Brown are two New York based artists who I spent a lot of my time reading about this summer. They were both primarily performance artists, though they each created pieces that exemplify the connection between performance and architecture. In Jonas’ Manhattan performance, Delay Delay, she experimented with how distance and the architectural environment altered the audience’s perception, and how it may differ from reality. Trisha Brown’s Manhattan performance, Man Walking Down the Side of a Building, explored the line between private and public space. By starting my research with these two artists, I was able to better grasp the theory and ideas behind the project that Professor Elfline was undertaking.
Once I understood the foundations of how performance art and architecture interacted in New York, I shifted to spending most of my time with Anna Halprin, a performance artist, and Lawrence Halprin, a landscape architect, a married couple who lived and worked in San Francisco. They ran workshops together for other performance artists and architects to collaborate and to trigger environmental and physical self-awareness. In their respective fields, the Halprins kept this bodily awareness at the center of their work: Anna producing dances and performances that experimented with the body and how it interacts with its environment, and Lawrence designing public spaces around how bodies inhabit architectural landscapes. As I spent more time researching the Halprins throughout the summer, I acquired a great appreciation for all of the collaborative work that they accomplished and the impact that their workshops had on the art world.
The research Professor Elfline and I did this summer for his book greatly benefited both of us and helped me grow as a researcher. Digging through archives to find documents and pulling on any relevant loose threads that I came across taught me a perseverance that I hadn’t previously realized was so important when researching. Reading a wide range of articles also forced me to become proficient at comprehending and summarizing material that I was not familiar with in a way that was concise and helpful to our research. Professor Elfline expressed that as his book is intended for an audience that may not have a prolific knowledge of contemporary art history, being able talk through ideas with me, someone who has a grasp on the material but still has a lot to learn about the field, was a key part of the writing process for him. I am very thankful to Professor Elfline for providing me with this opportunity to grow as a student of art history.