Welcome to LIVE2011

What we are most often asked is “What is performance art?”. Of course, any attempt at a definitive reply is doomed to be wrong–headed and we suspect people really want to tell us, not enquire us. A more astute question perhaps may be “What is not performance art?”. If anything, the artists endeavor to set a trap, a conundrum, a brain teaser, an irony, and a channel through which we can discover, explore and relish our own fetishistic and voyeuristic needs and impulses. There are no rules and anything is possible. We hope things may get a little out of hand to become a tad risqué, titillating, shocking and even messy. And good luck braving the endurances of real time in an era of A.D.D. There are some basic clues — notions of engagement, relationship, intervention, site-specificity and time through the unfiltered participation of the artist and the audience. But this is old hat in a zeitgeist hooked on the new. Artists will do anything by whatever means necessary to attempt something original and profound. Maybe or maybe not. That’s the fun of it. Maybe or maybe not.

The history of LIVE associates some speculation and embellishment. The beginning may be the incorporation in 2001 of an entity dedicated to a new performative contemporary art forum in Vancouver. Or, it may be the 1999 ‘Live at the End of the Century’ survey, cabaret and publication. Or, it may be the legendary 1979 ‘Living Art’ exhibition. Or, it may stretch back a few millennium. Regardless, since it’s inception, LIVE has presented umpteen local, national and international emerging, established and celebrated artists every two years to both informed and accidental audiences throughout Vancouver. The participation, collaboration and dedication of our city’s galleries, museums, institutions and individuals ebbs and flows like our tides. Somehow, with a little help from our friends, we have managed to become part of the fabric of our place and to make some new friends in other places.

Some think each edition of LIVE should embrace a theme – an anchor, a sign post, an intellectual and spiritual GPS, a rock to hold or hurl, a clever turn of phrase defining our collective intelligence. But everything is moving so fast and we want to be ahead of the flow, not behind it. So we choose to remain open. We crave that which challenges the status quo. Join us for a celebration of what is precisely undefined.

For 2011 we are shortening the festival duration and amping up the program. We want everyone together with us at the same time. LIVE2011 will feature artists from here and around the world. We want brilliant new work to infect us in novel ways with original thoughts. We look forward to an eccentric gathering.

Randy Gledhill
Executive Director / LIVE 2011