Visual & Performing Arts · 9th Grade

Active learning ideas

Introduction to Performance Art

Performance art’s ephemeral nature and reliance on live action make it a topic best understood through doing. When students experience the physicality and immediacy of performance firsthand, they grasp how body, time, and space function as artistic tools in ways that reading alone cannot convey.

Common Core State StandardsNCAS: Connecting VA.Cn11.1.HSProfNCAS: Responding VA.Re8.1.HSProf
25–45 minPairs → Whole Class4 activities

Activity 01

Case Study Analysis45 min · Individual

Instruction-Based Performance: Yoko Ono Score

Drawing on Ono's Instruction Paintings, students write a simple instruction score for an action (no more than three sentences) and perform it for the class. Each performance is documented in writing by two observers who note what they perceived versus what the performer intended.

How does performance art challenge traditional boundaries between artist, artwork, and audience?

Facilitation TipDuring Instruction-Based Performance: Yoko Ono Score, remind students that following the score literally is not the goal—emphasize interpretation and personal response to the instructions.

What to look forPose the question: 'If a performance art piece leaves no physical object, how can it be considered art?' Facilitate a class discussion, prompting students to use vocabulary like 'ephemeral,' 'conceptual,' and 'process' to support their arguments, referencing specific artists discussed.

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Activity 02

Socratic Seminar35 min · Whole Class

Socratic Seminar: Can Action Be Art?

Students read a short excerpt from Abramovic's Artist is Present documentation and a critical response questioning whether endurance constitutes artistic merit. The seminar works toward a shared position on the question: what makes a performance succeed or fail as art?

Analyze the role of the artist's body as a medium in performance art.

Facilitation TipFor the Socratic Seminar: Can Action Be Art?, prepare a short list of provocative statements tied to specific artworks to keep the conversation grounded and focused.

What to look forPresent students with images or short video clips of two different performance art pieces. Ask them to write down one key difference in how the artist uses their body and one similarity in how they might engage the audience. Collect responses to gauge understanding of core concepts.

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Activity 03

Think-Pair-Share30 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Body as Medium Analysis

Students watch short documentation clips (4-5 minutes each) of two contrasting performance works -- one durational (Abramovic), one interactive (Tino Sehgal) -- and write three observations for each. Pairs then discuss: what does each artist seem to be testing or claiming about the body's capacity to make meaning?

Critique a performance art piece for its effectiveness in conveying its message or experience.

Facilitation TipIn Think-Pair-Share: Body as Medium Analysis, assign roles during pairing to ensure both students contribute, such as one summarizing and the other responding with a question.

What to look forHave students briefly outline a simple performance art concept focusing on body, time, and space. Students exchange outlines and provide feedback using two specific questions: 'Is the use of body clear?' and 'How could audience interaction be more explicit?'

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Activity 04

Gallery Walk25 min · Small Groups

Gallery Walk: Performance Documentation

Photographic documentation of six to eight performance works from different decades is displayed around the room. Students respond to each with one word for how the image makes them feel, a sentence describing what the artist appears to be doing, and a question they would ask the artist.

How does performance art challenge traditional boundaries between artist, artwork, and audience?

Facilitation TipDuring Gallery Walk: Performance Documentation, place a timer at each station to encourage quick analysis and movement, mimicking the real-time pressure of performance.

What to look forPose the question: 'If a performance art piece leaves no physical object, how can it be considered art?' Facilitate a class discussion, prompting students to use vocabulary like 'ephemeral,' 'conceptual,' and 'process' to support their arguments, referencing specific artists discussed.

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A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers find success by grounding abstract concepts in concrete examples. Start with accessible, low-risk activities like Ono’s instruction scores to build confidence before tackling more complex works. Avoid overloading students with theory upfront—let their questions emerge from experience. Research shows that when students physically embody an artist’s process (even minimally), their understanding of intent and form deepens significantly.

Successful learning shows when students can articulate how an artist’s choices in time, space, and body create meaning, and when they apply these concepts to their own or others’ performance work. Look for clear language that connects intention to outcome, both in discussion and in written or performed responses.

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

  • During Instruction-Based Performance: Yoko Ono Score, some students may assume the activity is about following instructions perfectly rather than interpreting them.

    Use the score as a prompt for discussion: ask students to reflect on what happens when they modify an instruction, and how that change affects meaning or experience.

  • During Gallery Walk: Performance Documentation, students might dismiss performance art as ‘just photos or videos’ without recognizing these as intentional documentation tools.

    Have students compare two sets of documentation for the same performance, noting differences in framing, cropping, or sequencing, and discuss how these choices shape interpretation.

  • During Think-Pair-Share: Body as Medium Analysis, students may confuse the artist’s body with character or persona, seeing the performance as fictional rather than rooted in the artist’s actual presence.

    Prompt pairs to identify moments where the artist’s body is used as a literal material (e.g., bleeding, sitting, moving) and compare this to theatrical role-playing.

Methods used in this brief

More in Performance Art and Interdisciplinary Practices

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