‘In another approach to this public negotiation of subjective values and definitions, artist Joshua Sofaer pointed out that ‘Live Art has a penchant for working against definitions.’ It is worth noting that this was articulated whilst performing a provocation on Oxford Street for a straight to video release, ‘What is Live Art?’ Needless to say, the public was apparently more attentive to his exposed derriere than his rigorous negotiations of the taxonomy of Live Art, but this ludic and libidinal strategy of engagement was evidently intentional.
This ludic spirit of replacing a dead definition with a living practice is one of many that we might nurture. Live art has been located on the edge precisely because it has constantly allowed the public to participate in this ribald questioning through the tabling of questions such as, ‘But is it Art?’’