Oct 2, 20242 min read

The Vision Archive

Shattered Psyches - Multimedia Performance 1980s by Lila Moore — Multimedia Performance 1980s by Lila Moore

The Vision Archive is an ongoing documentation process of artworks, artist statements, manifestos, academic articles, and monographs by Dr. Lila Moore. The documents are assembled on ADA—The Archive of Digital Art and Dr. Lila Moore’s websites.

The poet Paul Valéry stated: “A work is never completed, but merely abandoned.” While this statement reflects the nature of the artistic process, it also highlights the unfortunate state of abandonment that artworks endure. Moreover, those of us who started working in the 1980s are aware not only of the lack of cameras and filming equipment, especially in remote geographic locations but also of the overall resistance to documenting, especially performance art.

Performative artworks were actions that, once performed, were meant to disappear, resembling a mirage, a vision and energy that happens in a unique moment in spacetime. Capturing a dynamic event was regarded as anti-performance; it killed the dynamism of the moment, turning the living action into a frozen still destined for a photographic death.

The contradiction between live and photographed performances sparked a transformative journey in my artistic career. I began using photography in a performative manner, a concept I later termed “performed photography."

This shift from my early attempts at painting to a medium more suited to capturing an ineffable dimension was a pivotal moment. The notion of invisible, film-like screens emerged as an aesthetic option and sensibility, marking a significant evolution in my artistic expression.

In the featured image from one of my early multimedia performances in the 1980s, the characters dissolve into the urban environment, reflecting their shattered psyches. Despite the unfortunate circumstances, the resilience of young women in the face of adversity was palpable. In some places in the Middle East, our ‘so-called performance art’ was considered an abomination. Our well-being and the integrity of our body and psyche were under attack. Hence, the surviving images reflect our psychic navigation in the poverty-stricken territory of the urban anima mundi.