by Alison Knowles 1965

This piece is a page of text created by Alison Knowles in the 1960s, and it looks like a script or maybe a set of instructions. The thing that grabs me here is the handwritten edits and annotations all over the typed text. You can see how the text has been added to and reworked in real time – it's alive with the energy of her thinking. It’s as if the work is never quite finished. That feels very connected to the ephemeral, process-based nature of performance art. The "Nivea Cream Piece" really stands out, the way the artist describes the first performer coming on stage with a bottle of hand cream, and massaging it in front of the microphone. It's kind of absurd and kind of beautiful. It reminds me of some of the work of Allan Kaprow, who was also interested in blurring the boundaries between art and life, and who explored similar themes of ritual, chance, and participation.