Performance art has long been plagued by a bad image problem, caused perhaps by too many "happenings" that consisted of semi-naked artists smearing themselves with an obscure substance in front of a largely bemused audience. However, Live at Project, the third annual week-long season of performance work and time-based art that starts in the Project @ The Mint next Tuesday, looks set to give that image a shake-up.
"It's definitely not that cliched 1970s idea of performance art," confirms Fiach MacConghail, director of the Project Arts Centre. "The season acts as kind of an umbrella for performances that are hard to categorise within a particular discipline. We really aim to pose a few questions about the idea of performance itself."
The week starts with The Sky Chair, a work-in-progress piece by the Project artist-in-residence, Alice Maher and composer-in-residence, Trevor Knight. The pair spent the last year and a half working together and exploring how they could bring elements of each other's discipline into their own work. The result, The Sky Chair is an imagistic rather than a narrative piece that brings together sound, light, image, actors Catherine Walsh and Vinnie McCabe, and artist Austin Quinn.
Wednesday's video-based performance is by British artist Ian Breakwell and "sound architect" Ron Geesin, and is called Auditorium. It is teamed with a piece by artist and director of NCAD, Noel Sheridan, called Not Waiting. On Thursday, Tara Brandel, an Irish choreographer and dancer offers her two-part piece called Under Wear, which promises to take us into the world of a femme fatale drag queen.
Roger Gregg is offering Marsyas: the Hip- pest Satyr, his own version of the early dramatic comedy, the satyr play, on Friday. He is joined in this celebration of decadence by musicians from the Cork band, Nine Wassies From Bainne.
Next Saturday, the self-described English queer artist, Michael Atavar, will make his first trip to Ireland. Atavar is renowned in Britain and the US and has a genius for the controversial; the show he is bringing to Ireland is called Ouch and contains story-telling and music by his band, Blackpool.
The two final performances are Runt by Annette Smyth, a video installation depicting the artist's body, and Little White Lines, an installation piece by Tony Patrickson.
All Live At Project events take place at the Project @ The Mint at 8.30 p.m., except Runt, which will take place at Space 28, North Lotts, Dublin 1 at 1 p.m., Friday, and Little White Lines which is at Space 28 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., next Saturday. There is also a 6.30 p.m. show of The Sky Chair. All shows cost £4 (season ticket £15) except for Runt and Little White Lines which are free. The Project Arts Centre Callsave number is 1850 260027.