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

• performance artist noun

Etymology

Origin of performance art

First recorded in 1970–75

Example Sentences

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

Kaplan, who has a background in performance art and comedy, was in the process of digitizing her video work from graduate school but didn’t finish in time.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 26, 2026

The exhibition displays over 200 different works drawn from the multiple disciplines Ono has engaged with across almost seven decades, whether film, music, conceptual or performance art, and also includes her continuing peace activism.

From Salon • Nov. 25, 2025

The first few events sat somewhere between performance art and pure anarchy.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025

“Yeah, then we’re entering postfood, performance art territory. Which is not pathetic. I appreciate the thought, but please, follow my lead tonight.”

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner