Abstract
This chapter presents a compelling conversation between performance artists Louis Fleischauer and Ernst Fischer, exploring the role of blood, ritual, and audience participation in contemporary performance art. Fleischauer, rooted in modern primitivism and known for his visceral public rituals, discusses his work as an antidote to societal disconnection from nature and primal instincts. Fischer, co-founder of the Leibniz performance collective, brings a nuanced perspective on the symbolic and political dimensions of blood, particularly in his Book of Blood project, where human blood is used as ink to transcribe the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Their dialogue traverses personal experiences, from Fischer’s participation in Hermann Nitsch’s Orgien Mysterien Theater to Fleischauer’s attempts to subvert consumerist tendencies in performance by rejecting passive spectatorship. The conversation highlights the paradoxical nature of blood in performance—its capacity to shock, transform, and connect. They discuss the tensions between ritual authenticity and performance art as a staged event, questioning whether contemporary rituals can genuinely offer transcendence or if they are inevitably consumed as spectacle.
The chapter also examines how performance can transcend language, fostering communication beyond words through physical endurance, trance states, and sensory immersion. Fischer and Fleischauer reflect on the interplay between pain, joy, and creation, considering the artist’s responsibility in shaping audience engagement. In doing so, they challenge prevailing assumptions about blood as purely a symbol of violence, advocating instead for its recognition as a marker of life, connection, and renewal.
Ultimately, this conversation reveals the complex interplay of body, materiality, and meaning in performance art, underscoring how blood functions as both a literal substance and a metaphor for human vulnerability, resistance, and the search for authenticity in an increasingly mediated world.
Their dialogue traverses personal experiences, from Fischer’s participation in Hermann Nitsch’s Orgien Mysterien Theater to Fleischauer’s attempts to subvert consumerist tendencies in performance by rejecting passive spectatorship. The conversation highlights the paradoxical nature of blood in performance—its capacity to shock, transform, and connect. They discuss the tensions between ritual authenticity and performance art as a staged event, questioning whether contemporary rituals can genuinely offer transcendence or if they are inevitably consumed as spectacle.
The chapter also examines how performance can transcend language, fostering communication beyond words through physical endurance, trance states, and sensory immersion. Fischer and Fleischauer reflect on the interplay between pain, joy, and creation, considering the artist’s responsibility in shaping audience engagement. In doing so, they challenge prevailing assumptions about blood as purely a symbol of violence, advocating instead for its recognition as a marker of life, connection, and renewal.
Ultimately, this conversation reveals the complex interplay of body, materiality, and meaning in performance art, underscoring how blood functions as both a literal substance and a metaphor for human vulnerability, resistance, and the search for authenticity in an increasingly mediated world.
| Original language | English |
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| Publisher | Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 28 Feb 2025 |