The transitory art is an artistic form, especially presents in the Contemporary art (but not exclusively) and which not exploits on the perenniality of the work of art, which is the general rule, but the brevity, its provisional character and often the setting in scene of the artist himself in work.

History

This form of art is not recent but, by definition, not leaving a direct trace, the old forms are known for us only by testimonys or practices having survived in Civilization S primitives. The first forms of transitory art can be in ritual Cérémonies transmitted by the Oral tradition or the tattooing S which die with the tattooed individual. The body paintings or the drawings on sand of the Aborigènes of Australia are convincing examples of old transitory art.

Transitory art in the contemporary art

In the history of art, each generation sought the rupture with the former generation. Thus when Kasimir Malevitch carries out in 1919 its white square on white zone , the only possible provocation remains to deny the support lui-même.

The surrealist seize this question and carry out like Marcel Duchamp “Ready-made”, i.e. objects of the everyday life ironically promoted with the row of works of Article But those are always objects of catalog. This is why the surrealist ones will try out the automatic writing, collective works, the integration of the Hasard, all things which return art very contingent.

Paradoxes of transitory art

The desire to leave less possible traces remains for an irremediably paradoxical artist. To carry out a performance without witness nor proof implies for the artist to remain completely unknown. This is why, even if transitory art wants to leave the Musée, it returns there in an indirect way. Moreover, the problem of the financing of the artist arises in a noncommonplace way. To exist culturally and financially the speaker in transitory art thus sees himself constrained to carry out a priori projects or models which it can expose and sell (like Christo for example) and to realize during his project of the recordings, Photographie S, Film S, Vidéo S that it will be able to then use as testimony and source of revenue. In the same way, the Land Art, normally in full nature, gigantic and perishable, can réintrégrer the museums and exposures in a saleable and reduced form cuts (ex of it: Lines of slates of Long Richard with Bordeaux).