Visual & Performing Arts · 10th Grade

Active learning ideas

Performance Art: Blurring Boundaries

Active learning works for this topic because performance art demands firsthand experience to grasp its reliance on presence, duration, and real-time interaction. Students need to feel the pressure of holding an audience’s attention or the discomfort of pushing physical limits to truly understand what makes this form distinct.

• Common Core State Standards
• NCAS: Connecting VA.Cn11.1.HSAcc
• NCAS: Responding VA.Re7.2.HSAcc

• 30–45 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Think-Pair-Share
• 30 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: What Makes It Art?

Show students two-minute clips from three performance works such as Abramovic's The Artist is Present, Kaprow's 18 Happenings, and a student flash mob. Partners use a simple matrix to evaluate each on criteria like intent, skill, and impact before the class debates which criteria are relevant at all.

How does performance art challenge the definition of a 'work of art'?

Facilitation Tip

During Think-Pair-Share, circulate and listen for moments when students pivot from casual opinions to close observation of specific works.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If a performance piece cannot be bought or sold, how does it hold value?' Facilitate a class discussion, prompting students to reference specific examples like Tino Sehgal's work and consider the role of memory and documentation.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Case Study Analysis
• 45 min · Individual

Micro-Performance Workshop: Five-Minute Scores

Borrowing the Fluxus tradition of written instructions for actions, students receive index cards with short prompts like 'stand silently in a high-traffic hallway for three minutes and observe.' They perform the score and then write a reflection on what it felt like to inhabit a public space with deliberate intent.

Analyze the role of audience participation in performance art.

Facilitation Tip

In the Micro-Performance Workshop, set a timer that students can see to emphasize the discipline of duration without disruption.

What to look for

Provide students with images or short video clips of two different performance art pieces. Ask them to write one sentence identifying the primary medium used in each (e.g., body, space, audience interaction) and one sentence explaining the main message they perceive.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

Activity 03

• Case Study Analysis
• 40 min · Small Groups

Structured Discussion: Audience as Participant

Students read a short excerpt from RoseLee Goldberg's Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present and then identify three works where the audience was essential rather than incidental to the work's meaning. Small groups present examples and defend their categorizations.

Critique the effectiveness of a performance piece in conveying its message.

Facilitation Tip

For the Structured Discussion, assign roles like ‘observer’ or ‘participant’ to ensure every student contributes something tangible to the conversation.

What to look for

After students complete a short micro-performance, have them present to a small group. Peers use a simple checklist: Did the performer use their body? Was the space utilized effectively? Was the intent of the performance clear? Peers provide one specific suggestion for improvement.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by grounding abstract concepts in concrete, repeatable activities so students experience the challenges firsthand. Avoid lectures about ‘what performance art is’ before they’ve felt its demands. Research shows students grasp the value of presence and documentation only after they’ve struggled to create a brief performance themselves, so sequence activities from simple to complex.

Successful learning looks like students recognizing performance art’s reliance on the artist’s body, real time, and unrepeatable events rather than objects. They should be able to articulate the differences between performance art, theater, and other art forms with concrete examples.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Think-Pair-Share, watch for students who equate performance art with theater because they focus on costumes or staging.

  After students share their initial thoughts, show them a side-by-side comparison of a short theater scene and a performance art clip, then ask them to list procedural differences like rehearsal versus spontaneity.

• During the Micro-Performance Workshop, watch for students who dismiss the difficulty because their performance feels ‘easy’ or ‘short.’

  Have students reflect on their experience immediately after performing, asking them to describe the concentration or discomfort they felt, even in a five-minute piece, to highlight the skill required.

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Methods used in this brief

• Think-Pair-Share
• Case Study Analysis