The History of Endurance Art

Endurance art is form of art that is performed over time, and depicts pain, hardship or exhaustion. It is meant to be a physical representation of struggle, a meaning that can sometimes be overlooked in visual art. Endurance art is an art form that not often discussed, despite its tremendous cultural impact.

The origins of endurance art can be traced to the 1970’s work of Chris Burden. His most commonly reproduced performance is “Trans-fixed” which took place in 1974 in Venice, California. He lied in a Volkswagen Beetle with his hands are nailed to the car as if to be crucified, the car was pushed out the garage for two minutes and pushed back inside.

Linda Montano and Tehching Hsieh were tied together by an eight foot rope for an entire year, in a piece called “Art/life” They were permitted to be in the same room at all times, and to never touch each other.

Known in the performance art community as the “grandmother of performance art” Marina Abramovic fashioned a new movement within performance art that focused on testing ones physical and mental stamina, rather than depicting a specific message. In her 2003 performance “The House of Ocean View” Abramovic sat on a stage, open to an audience, for 12 days straight, without food or entertainment.

Today, the most commonly well-known endurance art performance is “Carry that Weight” by Emma Sulkowiczs at Columbia University. Sulkowicsz alleged that a student had abused and raped her in the first day of sophomore year. After filing complaint with the University, the suspect was cleared of all responsibility. To protest the universities complacency in allowing her alleged rapist to be on campus, she carried the mattress where the incident took place all around Columbia campus. As part of the performance, she was not allowed to ask for help, but could accept helped if offered. It was a controversial and evocative piece that garnered much praise, but also a lot of critique.