Veronika Tkachenko
This is an exploration of the ethical tension within performance art, focusing on how artists sometimes involve unaware participants, marginalised individuals, or staged social scenarios. Through examples such as works by Adrian Piper, Santiago Sierra, and Guillermo Gomez- Pena, the article investigates how performance art reveals and sometimes reproduces structures of power, inequality and spectatorship.
The issue of exploitation in art is becoming increasingly relevant in contemporary cultural discourse. Discussions about consent, representation, labour exploitation, and institutional power have fundamentally changed how audiences interpret artistic practices.
Performance is particularly sensitive to these themes, as it often involves real people rather than symbolic representations. Unlike traditional forms of visual art, performance art often takes place in real time and in public spaces, making spectators and participants part of the artistic process. As a result, ethical responsibility becomes a key issue when artists engage people who may not fully understand their role in the work.
A key example of this ethical tension can be seen in the work of Adrian Piper. In her series Catalysis (1970-1971), Piper performed disruptive actions in public spaces without informing the surrounding public that they were witnessing or participating in an artwork.
"Catalysis" , 1970-1971
These performances involved actions designed to provoke reactions from passers-by. By placing herself in everyday urban environments and behaving in unexpected ways, Piper transformed ordinary social interactions into artistic events. However, the people around her were not aware that they were part of a performance.
From one perspective, this strategy allowed Piper to reveal hidden social norms, prejudices, and behavioural expectations within public space. Yet it also raises questions about consent. If individuals unknowingly become part of an artwork, can their participation be considered ethically acceptable? Piper’s work demonstrates how performance art can simultaneously critique social structures while complicating the ethical relationship between artist and audience.
While Piper’s work questions the boundaries of participation, Santiago Sierra’s performances confront issues of labour exploitation more directly. Sierra often hires marginalized individuals to perform uncomfortable or degrading actions as part of his artworks
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One controversial example is 160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People (2000), in which four heroin-addicted sex workers received a continuous tattoo across their backs in exchange for drugs. The performance was documented and later exhibited in a gallery as part of the artwork.
"160 cm Line Tattooed on 6 people" , 2000
Another work, 250 cm Line Tattooed on 6 Paid People (1999), involved six unemployed Cuban men who were paid to receive a tattoo line across their backs.
These works intentionally reproduce exploitative labour conditions in order to expose them. Sierra himself argues that the real problem is not the tattoo itself, but the social conditions that allow such exchanges to occur.
Issues of exploitation also appear in performances that address colonial history and cultural representation. Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s performance “Couple Cage” staged the artists as “undiscovered natives” displayed inside a cage for museum audiences.
"Couple Cage" , 1933
The performance deliberately referenced historical exhibitions in which colonized people were displayed in Western museums and world fairs. By recreating this situation, Gómez-Peña aimed to confront audiences with the uncomfortable legacy of colonial spectacle.
This article combines several approaches to analyzing these works. Visual analysis helps us understand how performances are constructed and presented. Ethical theory provides tools for assessing issues of consent, responsibility, and harm. Concepts of power and spectatorship help explain how viewers engage with artworks, while critical art discourse situates these performances within broader debates in contemporary visual culture.
By combining these perspectives, the article demonstrates how performance operates not only as aesthetic expression but also as a social and political practice.
Performance art occupies an important place in the field of contemporary art, since it is directly related to the human body and society. In this regard, artists have the opportunity to experiment and question the usual norms such as conventions, power structures, and the boundaries between artist and audience.
The works of Adrian Piper, Santiago Sierra, and Guillermo Gómez-Peña demonstrate how performance art can both critique and replicate systems of inequality. By involving unaware participants, vulnerable individuals, or staged colonial scenarios, these artists force audiences to confront their own complicity in the systems of power they are witnessing.