performance art

American  

noun

1. a collaborative art form originating in the 1970s as a fusion of several artistic media, as painting, film, video, music, drama, and dance, and deriving in part from the 1960s performance happenings.

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performance art British  

noun

1. a theatrical presentation that incorporates various art forms, such as dance, sculpture, music, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• performance artist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of performance art

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

Also on the schedule: the re-creation of two of Ono’s groundbreaking performance art works, including 1964’s iconic “Cut Piece,” which Ono originally performed in Kyoto and Tokyo, before staging its American debut at Carnegie Hall.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2026

That is, of course, assuming there is some kind of larger strategy in play here and this isn’t some kind of performance art.

From Salon • May 12, 2026

It was printed at Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions in downtown Los Angeles, just a few months after the now-legendary performance art space had opened in January of ’78.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2026

Three years later, in a highly theatrical piece of performance art, he staged a live destruction of his Girl with Balloon at Sotheby's auction house - moments after it was sold for £1m.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2026

“No one ever understands performance art when it’s on the cutting edge.”

From "Landscape with Invisible Hand" by M.T. Anderson