John G. Boehme

What interests me is the ongoing reformulation of a set of critical interests. These interests draw from my observations of Western society’s less-considered compulsions. I explore language and paralanguage, that is, both the spoken and gestural aspects of human communication. The performance of gender, specifically masculinity, valorization of labour, the pursuit of leisure, and marshalling amity are areas of investigation. Live artwork presents a direct relationship with material, action and process, and human interaction, as I understand it. Physical involvement is the most embodied way in which to create meaning. Through durational works, the artist and the audience gain access to the unique experience through such commitment—the archetypal modality of ‘performance art,’ an experience that unfolds over an extended time. Nothing can replace that learning, that specific duration of being. Although there is no alternative to the durational aspect of performance, I remain interested in the question of the representation of performance. The clear and obvious problem is making the ephemeral available to a larger audience at a different time. Using video to “reconstruct” an event makes publication and discourse possible. Despite its material concerns, believing art is ultimately rendered in the social domain.