Performa '09 and futurism

A decade ago, art historian and impresario RoseLee Goldberg, who literally wrote the book on performance art -- "Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present," first published in 1979 -- found herself being pushed by her publisher for an updated version to write less about history and more about the next big thing. Unfortunately, she felt "the performance scene was just rehashing what had been happening in the '70s and '80s," recalls Goldberg. "If I saw one more monologue, I thought I would scream."

By Susan Emerling

November 22, 2009