Why Performance Art Matters V. 2: Featuring Fina Ferrara

Performance and performance-based art is meant to be enjoyed and appreciated in the moment. When a performance is over however, the piece can still be savored in the form of video and photography. This sense of mindfulness brings us to one of the most celebrated performance artists of our time: Fina Ferrara. Ms. Ferrara’s performance work is usually conceptual-based rather than conveying a narrative. Concepts such as overcoming and purging personal suffering, emotional release, metamorphosis, connecting with our ancestors, contradictions, and connecting with nature are infused into her work. Her performances are riveting and engage in unique forms of contemporary dance, elaborate costumes and props (or even in the nude), and expressing emotional impulses. 

When comparing performance with other forms of visual art, in the contemporary era, performance and performance-based art typically remains the most critically acclaimed. In essence, performance exemplifies expressions of the figure in a conceptual context. A performance such as Echo of Perception by Fina Ferrara uses integrative methods such as screening classic films and using a performance to react and enhance the Kuleshov effect from various scenes. Performances such as The Language of the Sun and Na’atik, also by Fina Ferrara, use the power of the elements and nature as props, such as interactions with aqua to accentuate expressions of contemporary dance and evocative motions. 

The interactive and integrative approach of performance art, which works quite well with video, film, installation, and photography, releases a sense of dramatic theatre in the form of purity meant as a visual art, rather than an extension of literature or a script. Theatre performance remains just as valid and vital as performance art, however the latter correlates more closely with other forms of visual art. Film performance blurs the line between performance art and theatre performance. Most film performances are based on a narrative, however, the actor breathes life into a written story using the elements of cinematography and clever direction in order to convey a convincing form of visual expression. In essence, performance art is the most pure type of performance, because of turning the artform into a mode of conceptual communication and becomes the main focal point of revealing ideas rather than reliant on a narrative or direction. The performance artist is the writer, director, theatre stage, and entire cast all in one. 

A photographer or filmmaker can take advantage of the mindful impact of performance by integrating the artform into their work. What performance has to offer would be an engagement with the audience in a direct conceptual avenue. Documentary-based approaches are just as valid as an artform, however, the actor brings life to what would otherwise be considered inanimate objects. A photographer and filmmaker can create a conceptual still life, or create hand-made conceptual props or set-design to convey an idea. Incorporating performance, however, reveals an engagement and relationship between an actor who behaves as a conduit of the viewer. A landscape or still life are essentially the ‘other’, or rather, actual objects. The actor in a performance on the other hand reveals the psychological impulses of the figure in context to the ‘other’, which would be props and nature. 

What does the future of performance and performance-based art entail? Visual artists such as installation and video artists, filmmakers, photographers, set designers, and jewelry as well as costume designers can all offer integrative multi-disciplinary contributions to the artform of performance. Although in the performance, the central focal point is on the actor, the center of attention, but the performer can also work well with others in order to create enhanced ideas based on revealing the relationship of performance to other mediums. 

A fine work of performance behaves much like an enchanted experience. The performer enthralls and captivates the audience, in essence, mystifying them into engaging with actions which are expressions of ideas not pondered in such a manner before. Fina Ferrara for example will express various emotions and concepts through her own form of contemporary dance and exaggerated motions, emotions, and physical expressions to represent a symbol of communication. Like how in some performances, she will smear lipstick on her face and spill wine in order to convey a concept on gender-based violence, addressing an important issue which faces many women faced with abusive relationships. 

We, as the audience, need to engage with performance as a high form of art containing puristic human expression and a conveyance of conceptual discourse. In essence, we need more performance and other types of artists should prioritize integrative approaches in order to create performance-based art. From a sociological, cultural, historical, and psychological perspective, performance keeps us on our toes and has us question the philosophical purpose of contemporary identity. Performers such as Fina Ferrara, through multiple concepts, guide the viewer to understanding our deepest emotions and reactionary impulses with her evocative, aggressive, sensual, pleasurable, and even disturbing rhythm, movements, and dances.

https://finaferrara.com/performance