Yes, one can argue that the endless drudgery and travails of ordinary people in their everyday lives can be seen as a form of performance art, depending on how one interprets “performance” and “art.” This perspective aligns with certain conceptual frameworks in art and philosophy. Here’s how this idea can be developed:
1. The Aesthetic of the Everyday
The mundane routines of life—commuting, working, cooking, or cleaning—can be viewed as a repetitive performance, similar to how performance art often focuses on endurance, repetition, and time. Artists like Tehching Hsieh and Marina Abramović elevate routine and effort into art by framing these acts within specific constraints or contexts, but in essence, these acts mirror the repetitive nature of ordinary life.
• Example: Tehching Hsieh’s Time Clock Piece (punching a clock every hour) could parallel the daily grind of workers who are similarly tied to time and labor.
2. Performance as a Social Construct
Life itself can be viewed as a “stage” (a notion famously explored by Shakespeare and Erving Goffman), where individuals perform roles dictated by society, such as worker, parent, or friend. This framework suggests that everyday life is already a performance, shaped by expectations and rules.
• Performance Art Parallel: The “invisible” acts of caretaking, commuting, or labor might be seen as an unconscious, unacknowledged form of art, revealing resilience, endurance, and the beauty or tragedy of human existence.
3. Contextualizing Labor as Art
Performance art often interrogates systems of power and labor, and in this sense, the drudgery of ordinary life can be seen as an unframed form of art that reflects larger social structures. By re-contextualizing these acts—perhaps through observation, documentation, or elevation of their aesthetic or existential dimensions—they can be interpreted as art.
• Example: The act of waiting in long queues or enduring back-breaking work might become art if framed as a commentary on capitalism, social inequality, or human perseverance.
4. The Role of Observation and Meaning
Art is often about intention and perception. The ordinary becomes art when one chooses to view it through a specific lens. Philosopher John Cage suggested that even ambient sounds or silence can be music when we actively listen. Similarly, the repetitive motions and struggles of daily life can become art when we pause to observe them as such.
• Example: The repetitive motion of a factory worker on an assembly line can evoke both tragedy and beauty, much like the hypnotic repetition in some minimalist performances.
5. Ethical and Political Implications
Interpreting everyday labor as performance art raises ethical questions: Are we aestheticizing suffering? Or does this interpretation validate and honor the struggles of ordinary people by recognizing their effort, endurance, and humanity as inherently artistic?
• Critique: While framing drudgery as art can be empowering, it must be balanced with a critical awareness of systemic exploitation and inequality, lest it romanticize or trivialize the hardships involved.
Conclusion
While ordinary life may not be “performance art” in the traditional sense, it can certainly be interpreted as such through a specific lens. By framing the mundane as art, we highlight its existential, aesthetic, and social dimensions, calling attention to the beauty and resilience embedded in everyday struggles. However, this perspective must remain sensitive to the lived realities of those involved, respecting their experience beyond its metaphorical or aesthetic potential.
