Performance, as an ephemeral event that takes shape as an “extra-ordinary present” that causes a temporal rupture, has an intrinsically political nature. However, says Sandra Pinardi, that extra-ordinary, singular present may “[migrate] toward diverse types of materiality that offer it persistence and permanence.” Pinardi provides several examples from contemporary performance to discuss ways in which this shift may affect its political power, putting performance in danger of losing its character as event and becoming spectacle.
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