Topic 2 of Lecture Handout 2: Topic Title: Performance Art

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

LECTURE HANDOUTS COMPILATION
September 2020 - 2021
Topic 2 of Lecture Handout 2
Topic Title: Performance Art
Introduction:
Art simply means “ability or skill.” Art is used in many varied ways. It covers those
areas of artistic creativity to seek to communicate beauty primarily through the senses.
Art embraces the visual arts, performing/ combined arts, digital arts, applied arts.
The performing arts use the artist’s own body, face, and presence as a medium.
Performing arts include dance, film, music, theater, acrobatics). Artists who participate
in these arts in front of an audience are called performers.
Topic Objectives:
→Define, identify, differentiate performing arts

→Evaluate different performing arts
→Apply the usages of the performing arts to one’s life
Topic Contents
Performance Art is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body which
he or she uses in different performances, but also employs other kind of art such as
visual art, props, or sound. It usually consists of 4 important elements; time, where the
performance took place, the performer’s or performer’s body, and a relationship
between the audience and the performer/s. The fact that performance art is live makes
it intangible, which means it cannot be bought or traded as a commodity. [1]
Performance Art is a time-based art form that typically features a live presentation to
viewers/audience/ onlookers (as on a street) and draws on such arts
as acting, poetry, music, dance, and painting. It is generally an event rather than
an artifact, lasting for a very short time, though it is often recorded on video and by
means of still photography. [4]
Performance art [5]

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It is a work of art or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or
other participants. It may be live, through documentation, spontaneously or written,
presented to a public, audience/viewers/spectators in a Fine Arts context, traditionally
interdisciplinary.
Performance art, also known as artistic action; has been developed through the years
as a genre of its own in which art is presented live.
It involves four basic elements: time, space, body, and presence of the artist, and the
relation between the creator and the public. The actions, generally developed in art
galleries and museums, can take place in the street, any kind of setting or space
(street, stage, etc.) and during any time period.
Its goal is to generate a reaction, sometimes with the support of improvisation and a
sense of aesthetics. The themes are commonly linked to life experiences of the artist
themselves, or the need of denunciation or social criticism and with a spirit of
transformation.
Classifications of Performing/ Combined Arts
1. Performance Poetry 4. Music

2. Film/ Cinema 5. Dance
3. Theater
1. Performance Poetry [1]
→is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by using mediums like
paint, charcoal, or camera, but expresses them through words. These words are
carefully selected to exhibit clarity and beauty and to stimulate strong emotions of joy,
anger, love, sorrow, and the list goes on. It uses a word’s emotional, musical, and
spatial values that go beyond its literal meaning to narrate, emphasize, argue, or
convince. These words, combined with movements, tone, volume, and intensity of the
delivery add and improve to the artistic value of the poem. Some poets even make
poems out of their emotions picked up from other works of art, which in turn produce
another work of art through poetry. [1]
Elements of Poetry [3]

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1. Denotation/Connotation
Denotation: the actual meaning of a word from the dictionary

Example: Home means a place to live in
Connotation: related/allied meaning of a word; the additional meaning/s of a word
with emotional significance
Example: Home may mean warmth, comfort, security, love
2. Imagery: the representation of sense experience through language.

Images are formed as we see, hear, taste, smell, and touch; or we may say that an
“image’ is the mental duplication of a sense of impression.
3. Figurative Language: uses words that mean something or other than what they
usually refer to or mean if we use them in ordinary conversation
Simile and metaphor: the most commonly used and the most important of the
figurative language. Both are→used as a means of comparing things that are
essentially unlike.
In Simile→ the comparison id expressed by the use of some words or phrases: like,
as, than, similar to, resemble, or seem
In Metaphor→ comparison is implied, figurative term is substituted for or identified with
a literal term
Example: Army ordinarily refers soldiers/people armed for war.
Using figurative language→Somebody encounters army of
challenges in life. (Army implied meaning is - too many)
4. Rhythm and Meter

Rhythm: a part of our lives as there are rhythm in the way we walk, talk, swim, and
other similar activities.
Meter, in language, is the accents that are so arranged as to occur at apparently equal
intervals of time
5. Meaning and Idea: the experience the poem expresses.

We can distinguish between:
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a. Total meaning: the idea in a poem is only a part of the total experience it
communicates. The value and worth of the poem are determined by the value of the
total experience, not by the truth or the nobility of the idea itself.
b. Prose meaning: does not necessarily be an idea itself→ may be a story of

description, a statement of emotion, a presentation of human character or a
combination of these.
2. Cinematography [6]
Cinema, from the Greek word, Kinema, meaning movement. It means moving
pictures, or film in motion. By its very nature, cinema as an art form uses skills to make
beautiful moving-pictures. The more popular form of cinema, the one that incorporates
theater and literature, is that which tell stories.
The cinema or motion pictures is one of the most popular form of art and entertainment
in the Philippines. Millions of people usually go to the movies, and even watch movies
on television. TV networks use picture techniques to film many of the program that
appear on television. [6]
2 Classification of Cinema: [6]
1. Time Art
Cinema properly deals with recorded movement, and movement necessarily takes
place in time. Furthermore, stories and plots unfold time along with sounds laid over
the movie.
For this reason, cinema can be classified as a “time art.”
2. Space art
Cinema is also projected on screen, a flat surface with specific dimensions or aspect
ratios. Images are composed for the screen as in a painting and can be studied as a
painting. This allows cinema to be classified as a space art.
Because cinema presents recorded movement projected on a flat, stable surface it is
reasonable to conclude that it straddles both classifications, i.e. time art and space art,
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and requires the spectator to be sensitive to the nuances of the artistic manipulation
of time and space.
Elements of Cinema [6]
A. Script or Narrative: the basis of the movie; provides the story that a movie presents
to the spectator. This story is composed of several elements:
1. Characters: the agents of an act that constitutes an event; usually persons – human
beings – but can be animals, machines, ordinary things, and fantastic creatures play
the role of characters as in animated film.
Two Kinds of Character [6]
a.) Protagonist – the main characters in movies; causes the chain of events
that will unfold. The narrative usually centers on the actions that this character does
to attain his goal.
b.) Antagonist – Characters that create hindrances/oppose the protagonist.

His only aim is to prevent the protagonist from achieving his goal.
2. Dialogue: composed of the words that a character says.

In sound movies, dialogue is delivered orally by the performers; in silent movies,
dialogue is shown as text inserted between shots.
3. Setting: the spatial or temporal particular place of the event in the plot. The setting
ensures that events enacted by the characters happen in a particular place and time.
4. Plot – the arrangements or sequences of events and the things that are shown or
revealed on screen.
B. Production Design transforms the setting into cinematic reality. If executed well,
it aids the viewer/ audience/spectator to put himself in the “reel world” created by the
movie.
1. Set design refers to the look and construction of the physical structures in a movie.
2. Costumes – the clothes worn by performers/actors to portray a character
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3. Props – the things that the character uses
4. Decorations – the things that are not touched by the characters
C. Acting: allows the spectator to understand the characters in a movie; is what brings
to life the characters sketched out in the script.
D. Staging – makes the event in the plot a reality. The director’s art lies in his ability
to stage the event to be shot in front of the camera
E. Editing – the process through which a movie is put together
3. Theater [6]
Theater refers to the performance based on a dramatic text that is staged using
techniques of theater production and enacted/interpreted by performers, artist-actors
and actresses, directors, designers, and other personnel before audiences who are
situated in sites of performance. [6]
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers,
typically actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event
before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. [7]
The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through
combinations of gesture, speech, song, music, and dance. Elements of art, such as
painted scenery and stagecraft such as lighting are used to enhance the physicality,
presence and immediacy of the experience. [7]
The specific place of the performance is also named by the word "theatre" as derived
from the Ancient Greek θέατρον (théatron, "a place for viewing"), itself from θεάομαι
(theáomai, "to see", "to watch", "to observe").
Modern theatre includes performances of plays and musical theatre. The art forms
of ballet and opera are also theatre and use many conventions such as acting,
costumes and staging. They were influential to the development of musical theatre;
see those articles for more information. [7]
Elements of Theatre [8]
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In theatrical art, it demands that things be collaborated with one another, with the
actors, director, various technical workers tasked for costumes, scenery, and lighting,
and businesspeople who finance, organize, advertise, and sell the product.
If there is collaboration among different types of personnel, it presupposes a system

that divides duties.
In the commercial theatre the most powerful person is usually the producer, who is
responsible for acquiring the investment that finances the production.
The rehearsal of the play is conducted by the director, who is responsible for
interpreting and translating the script, also, for casting, and for helping to determine
the design of the scenery and costumes.
Under the director’s general direction, a stage manager, possibly with several
assistants, is tasked to the organization of rehearsal and the technical elements of the
performance—light and curtain cues, properties, sound effects, and so on.
The Search for an Audience [8]
Throughout the world, government and private funds have been applied in varying
fashions to attract wider audiences to the theatre. Theatre-in-education troupes, as
adjuncts of regional theatres, frequently tour schools and perform classics, children’s
plays, or new drama. Many programs also exist to bring young people to the theatre.
Regional and international tours are also undertaken by theatres
What are the types of theatre stages and auditoria? [9]
1. Proscenium stages
Otherwise known as the picture frame stage. These stages have an architectural
frame, known as the proscenium arch, although not always arched in shape. Their
stages are deep and sometimes raked, meaning the stage is gently sloped rising away
from the audience.
Sometimes the front of the stage extends past the proscenium into the auditorium.
This is known as an apron or forestage. Theatres containing proscenium stages are
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known as proscenium arch theatres and often include an orchestra pit for live music
and a fly tower for the movement of scenery and lighting.
2. Thrust stages
‘Thrust’ into the auditorium with the audience sitting on three sides. The thrust stage
area itself is not always square but may be semi-circular or half a polygon with any
number of sides. Such stages are often used to increase intimacy between actors and
the audience.
These stages have a central performance area enclosed by the audience on all sides.
The arrangement is rarely ‘round’: more usually the seating is in a square or polygonal
formation. The actors enter through aisles or vomitories between the seating. Scenery
is minimal and carefully positioned to ensure it does not obstruct the audience’s view.
3. Arena theatres
These are large scale auditorium and have a central stage area with audiences on all
sides, similar to theatres in-the-round. The stage area is usually rectangular, more like
a sports arena, with tiered seating.
4. Black-box or studio theatres

Studio theaters are flexible performance spaces which when stripped to their basics
are a single room painted black, the floor of the stage at the same level as the first
audience row. Usually these spaces allow for the temporary setup of seating in a
number of different configurations to enable a wide variety of productions to be
presented.
5. Platform stages
Usually consist of a raised rectangular platform at one end of a room. They can either
have a level or raked sloping floor. The audience sit in rows facing the stage. Platform
stages are often used in multi-purpose halls where theatre is only one of the space’s
uses. Where the stage is open and without curtains, they are sometimes known as
end stages or open stages.
6. Hippodromes
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Hippodromes are similar to circuses and have a central circular arena surrounded by
concentric tiered seating. Deep pits or low screens often separate the audience from
the arena.
7. Open air theatres

These are outdoor theatres that do not have a roof, although sometimes parts of the
stage or audience seating will be covered. These stages may make use of the natural
light as it changes during the day, particularly sunset.
8. Site-specific theatre
Site-specific theatre is usually performed in a non-traditional theatre space such as a
pub, home or warehouse, often reflecting the history, atmosphere or experiences of a
particular location.
9. Promenade theatre
This involves the audience moving from place to place following the actors and
performance.
4. Music is the art of combining and regulating sounds of varying pitch to produce
melodious harmony expressive of various ideas and emotions. [10]
Music may be defined as the organization of sounds in time. [11]

→The art of organizing sound so as to elicit an aesthetic response in listener
→Aesthetically pleasing or harmonious sound
→Sound that moves the human soul [11]
Elements of Music
1. Rhythm: the basic element of music; the variation of length and accentuation of a
series of sounds. Beat is the most fundamental component of music. [2]
Rhythm is the ordered flow of music through time. [10]

“Flow” – the heart-beat, timely flow
Rhythm: the quality of music that determines its motion through time. [11]
2. Melody.
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Rhythm→associated with physical motion; Melody→associated with mental motion;
sometimes called memory element →since it is what the listeners can remember. [2]
and [10]
Melody: refers to pitches or tones sounded one after another in a logical, meaningful
series; also defined as the succession of tones arranged in such a way as to give
musical sense. [2]
Of the elements of music, melody makes the most direct appeal. Usually, it is what
one rings a bell, what we remember when we whistle and hum. Melody consists of a
series of pitches and duration→signifying the overall balance between ascending and
descending motion of a song or musical composition. [3] and [11]
The most fundamental feature of melody is→continuity. It appeals to our emotion.

Such that we can judge if the melody is either melancholic or happy. [3]
Melody arouses interest. It is what most listeners can easily identify. It is the musical
idea around which a composition is constructed.
The melodic idea or basic tune of the composition is→ theme.
Theme→provides one of the most important approaches to intelligent listening; ability
to recognize one or more themes→ when recurred in a composition, is a clear
manifestation that one is moved toward full appreciation. [3]
Melody refers to pitches or tones sounded one after another in a logical, meaningful
series. It is the succession of tones arranged in such a way as to give a musical sense.
Melody is an organized group of pitches strung out sequentially to form a satisfying
musical entity. Melody is heard in terms of pitch. [2]
3. Pitch: the highness or lowness of sound.

The slower the vibration, the lower the pitch and the faster the vibration, the higher the
pitch. By means of pitch, we can distinguish an instrument from another or one voice
from another.
Interval – the relation of one pitch to another [2]
4. Harmony: the manner of sound combination in which we add subordinate sounds

to enhance the quality of the main sounds.
Harmony is the sounding of a series or group of tones at the same time or
simultaneously, instead of a single tone sounded separately. [2]
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Harmony – simultaneous sounding of 2 or more tones

Harmony is clearly visible or understood when a singer accompanies his melody with
chords on the guitar or when the pianist plays the melody with his right hand while the
left strikes the chords.
A chord is 2 or more notes or tones sounded at the same time and conceived as an
entity.
[3]
5. Texture
Musical Texture refers to how many different layers of sounds are heard at once, to
what kinds of layers they are (melody or harmony) and to how they are related to each
other. Like fabric, musical texture is described as transparent, dense, thin, thick, heavy
or light. [10]
Basic Musical Texture: [10]

1. Monophonic Texture – a texture of a single melodic line without accompaniment;
literally means one sound
2. Homophonic Texture – one main melody accompanied by chords. The
accompaniment is there firstly to help carry the sound and meaning of the melody.
3. Polyphonic Texture – 2 or more melodic lines are performed simultaneously of
relatively equal interest.
5. Dance: a patterned, arrangement of step and rhythmic bodily movement, usually

performed to music that serves as a form of communication or expression. Human
beings express themselves naturally through movements. [11]
Dance: an art and a recreation. As Art→ tells a story, a set of mood, or expresses
feeling and emotion. [2]
Dance involves a succession of group of bodily motions and rhythmically steps

movement performed and timed to musical/or rhythmic accompaniment.
It is said to be→ the oldest of the arts; beginning of music have been traced to the
dance→called the mother of the arts. [3]
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Dance, from French word, “danser”→art form that generally refers to a movement of
the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social
interactions or presented in a spiritual or performance setting. [11]
Elements of Dance
1. Theme: most basic element; conveys message of a dance→thus, if it does not give
a message, it is not considered as a dance, though there is movement involved. [2]
Theme: the content/main ingredient or focus of the dance; conveys the message of
the dance→tells what the dancers are telling/showing/implying. [3]
2. Design: the pattern of movement in time and space. [2]

Design: the planned organization or pattern of movement in time and space. [3] and
[11]
Pattern in time: the unaccented beats of movements into measures. [2]

Pattern in time: as provided by rhythm, groups in accented beats of movement into
measures. [3] and [11]
Pattern in space: the path traced by the dancer’s feet on the ground and the levels on
which they move. [2]
Pattern in space: is created by floor pattern (the path traced by the dancer’s traveling
feet) and planes (the level on which one moves). [3]
3. Movement: the bodily actions of the dancer which include his steps, gestures of the
arms, hands, and body, and facial expressions. [2]
Movement: the action of the dancer as he/she uses body gestures (of extremities) to
create organized pattern of movement.
Dance→suggests variety of body routine’s rhythmic pattern and natural dance
steps→which are characteristics of primitive or modern dance. [11]
4. Technique: a skill in the execution of movement. A technically proficient has

complete control over the muscles of his/her body. [3]
In some dancing forms, a high degree of technique is an end itself, either solo
performance or a group performance. [11]
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5. Music: the auditory background to which a dancer moves. A dance is always

accompanied by any form of music. [2]
Music’s important role in dancing→ by its being melodic and harmonious→ usually
used as an accompaniment; motivates dancer’s movement; serves as background
captivating the spectators. [3]
6. Costume and body paraphernalia: clothes worn by dancer that reveal message,
customs, beliefs, setting of the dance. [2]
Hand properties like costumes enhance the effect of dance, thus leaving the dancers
have freedom to move in different variations. [11]
7. Choreography: entails the figures and steps in dancing that enable dancers to
perform in an organized manner. [2]
Choreography: the art of having the dancers, gathering and organization of

movements into order and pattern. [10]
Choreography→shows how steps and movement are connected on how a dance must
be performed, choreographed, or instructed by the dancers. [11]
8. Scenery: background or setting of a dance performance making it more realistic

and enriching, captivating and interesting. [2]
Scenery is the setting/background setting up a place of action of any dances is

important in making the dance more realistic and beautiful. [3]
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References
1. Caslib Jr., B.N., Art Appreciation. Rex Book Store, Manila, First Edition, 2018
2. Ariola, M.M., Introduction to Art Appreciation A Textbook in Humanities, C&E Publishing, Inc., 2 nd
Edition, 2014
3. Sanchez, C.A., Abad, P.F., Jao, L.V., Introduction To Humanities, Rex Book Store, Manila, Fifth
Edition, 2011
4. Waignwright, L.S., Performance_art/Britannica.com/art/performance-art
5. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/performance art
6. Ramirez, V.E., Leynes, M.A., Fajardo, B.V., Minding The Arts, Mutya Publishing Inc., Malabon City,
2008
7. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/theater
8. Britannica.com/arttheatre-art/Elemnts-of-Theater
9. theatretrust.org.uk/discover-theatres/theatre-faqs/170-what-are-the-types-of-theatre-stages-
andauditoria
10. Marcos,L.L., Ferianiza, M.B., Introduction To The Humanities, Visual and Performing Arts,
Mindshapers Co. Inc., Revised Edition, 2010
11. Yagyagan, D.S., Cerda, R., Laurel, J.P., IntroductionTo Integrated Humanities, Arts In The
Perspective Of Time, Mindshapers Co. Inc., First Edition, 2010
12. Dr. Fanoga, Minerva, rubrics
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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

Topic Title: Performance Art

→Define, identify, differentiate performing arts

Performance art [5]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

1. Performance Poetry 4. Music

1. Performance Poetry [1]

Elements of Poetry [3]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

Denotation: the actual meaning of a word from the dictionary

2. Imagery: the representation of sense experience through language.

4. Rhythm and Meter

5. Meaning and Idea: the experience the poem expresses.

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

b. Prose meaning: does not necessarily be an idea itself→ may be a story of

2 Classification of Cinema: [6]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

Elements of Cinema [6]

Two Kinds of Character [6]

b.) Antagonist – Characters that create hindrances/oppose the protagonist.

2. Dialogue: composed of the words that a character says.

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

Elements of Theatre [8]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

If there is collaboration among different types of personnel, it presupposes a system

The Search for an Audience [8]

What are the types of theatre stages and auditoria? [9]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

4. Black-box or studio theatres

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

7. Open air theatres

Music may be defined as the organization of sounds in time. [11]

Rhythm is the ordered flow of music through time. [10]

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

The most fundamental feature of melody is→continuity. It appeals to our emotion.

3. Pitch: the highness or lowness of sound.

4. Harmony: the manner of sound combination in which we add subordinate sounds

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

Harmony – simultaneous sounding of 2 or more tones

Basic Musical Texture: [10]

5. Dance: a patterned, arrangement of step and rhythmic bodily movement, usually

Dance involves a succession of group of bodily motions and rhythmically steps

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

2. Design: the pattern of movement in time and space. [2]

Pattern in time: the unaccented beats of movements into measures. [2]

4. Technique: a skill in the execution of movement. A technically proficient has

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HMN 101--- ART APPRECIATION

5. Music: the auditory background to which a dancer moves. A dance is always

Choreography: the art of having the dancers, gathering and organization of