Response to "Art As a Performative Act"

In the reading, the debate was about whether the presence of other would have influence for the action of others. Also, the author of the article argued with several examples. The game players are good example to state the issue in a more general situation. For most situations in our daily life, people may not have the feeling of being watched. Since most people would check around to see what others are doing, but never try to observe other’s actions. Once they know they are being watched, things changed. There is an example that people type faster than they normally do when they are told that they are being monitored. Also, they will make more mistakes at the same time. My opinion is that whether people are doing performative action or they are doing their daily activity. The conscious of the presence of others would still influence their action. What comes into my mind was the performative art “Painting/Retoque” from Belgian artist Francis Alÿs. What he does was just painting on street. However, all the cars pass him actually made a particular element of his work. If the audiences and the card were missing, the work does not seem that interesting anymore.

http://www.francisalys.com/public/painting.html