Performing in an Art Fair: Inviting Strangers into the Artistic Action

The phenomenon researched in this essay is performance art with a particular focus on interactive performance at large-scale events, such as art fairs. This research focuses on two performance art cases performed at the Supermarket Art Fair in Sweden in 2017 and at the ArtVilnius Art Fair, in Lithuania in 2018. The cases are analyzed by the author from an autoethnographic approach. The data collected during 2017–2018 include video and photo documentation, notes and interviews, and EEG (electroencephalography) data. The cases are analyzed from the following perspectives — emergent responsivity, inhuman interconnections and transcorporeality — as recommended by the author to integrate the performance design when the artwork is created as a social sculpture in a large-scale venue, such as an art fair. This research can be useful for performance artists and designers as well as interaction designers.