Linda Montano Research Paper

Linda M. Montano, a spiritual, feminist performance artist is one of many who partake in durational and endurance-based performances. Montano’s years of practice, which borrows from her life, have been inscribed to living with patience and compassion. Nevertheless, Montano’s individual work has been hugely influenced by her way of living. Exhibiting ideologies through her practice such as, affirmation, sufferance and empowerment, Montano has portrayed a prevailing empathy towards her audiences. Even by her near death to anorexia and religious failings Montano’s art saved her life and continues to save the life of many around her. When Montano’s work peaked in the 60’s she took part in many performances that ranged in their duration. From weeks, …show more content…
For example, the urge to have sexual contact must have been difficult as during the year their relationship matured, therefore defiance would have arose as an issue. Both she and Hsieh defied the temptation of capitalism by not having that sensation of contact. Introducing the element of ‘human struggle’ became an interesting factor in my research as to what the addition of struggle would achieve? Consequently, regarding the duration of the performance my initial thoughts, before research, were that these pieces of work were conforming to a capitalist culture. In Montano’s case, my thoughts couldn’t be more wrong. Her work focuses primarily on the process of life itself and battles through ways that drive away from the social norms and they ways of art that people expect to see.
Following another durational performance artist, Tehching Hsieh, we are taken through a series of pieces that personify the meaning of ‘art is life’. For Hsieh, art became the way of life and he incorporated art into his everyday routines. Living as an illegal immigrant for nearly four years during the beginning of his art work, Hsieh explored the notion of human condition and tried to understand how this could be expressed through his