Moving Art, Moving Worlds Performing the Body in Visual Arts and Art Therapy

Abstract

This paper aims to link art therapy practice with theory related to performance or live art. The relevance of this association is to understand the personal and social relevance of the art therapy performance piece -how art can be enacted as a rite of passage. Performance art involves a dynamic interplay of both subjectivity and social criticism. By involving the body in art, and the movement of art by the body, improvisation is taken to a new level. Non-directive art therapy practice embarks upon a level of presentation, which ignites both mind and body in a felt immediacy.