A Work of Art

 

With no real definition of what contemporary art is, the possibilities have become endless. Gone are the day of form and discipline, and it seems that the mainstream music artists are throwing their hats into the ring.

 

Most notably as of late, we have Jay Z rapped for six hours in Chelsea’s Pace Gallery  for his new video “Picasso Baby” and included the performance artists of our generation: Marina Abramovic. She is known for her performance art pieces from the early 70s and is still performing, recently in MoMa for a piece called “The Artist is Present”. Not to be outdone, Kanye West adds his contribution with a video projection of his album throughout 66 buildings around the world.

 

Although this was considered a marketing strategy, who are we to judge? The beauty of art is that what works for some people may not work for others, and people are ok with that. Lady Gaga has take avant garde to the masses with her crazy costumes and extreme theatricality. Lupe Fiasco’s latest 12 minute music video can be seen as its own piece of performance are by some with his take on social issues that we still have to deal with.

 

Does that mean that music videos have become the next medium for performance art?

 

Who knows.

 

“But they’re mass produced by artists and singers.” you may say.

 

True, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have a powerful message. With the endless possibilities of mediums, it only makes sense that music become the next frontier of performance art and we can’t wait to see more of the collision and collaboration to the two worlds.