How did performance art make artists part of the artwork itself?

Performance art integrates the artist into the artwork by shifting the focus from creating a static object to presenting a live, time-based event where the artist’s own body serves as the primary medium and subject.12

By utilizing their physical presence, endurance, and actions, artists dissolve the traditional barrier between the creator and the creation. This approach allows for direct, often visceral, exploration of themes such as identity, politics, and human limitations. For example, artists like Marina Abramović have used their bodies to test physical and mental boundaries, turning their presence into a site of artistic and spiritual inquiry. In pieces like The Artist Is Present, the act of simply sitting and engaging with the audience becomes the work itself, emphasizing the immediate, ephemeral connection between the artist and the viewer.12

This practice draws on diverse disciplines—including acting, dance, and painting—to prioritize the experience of the event over the production of a permanent artifact. By placing themselves at the center of the performance, artists transform their lived experience into the art, making the work inseparable from their own existence.132