The manifestation of performance, costume and animals in the works of Nicole Eisenman, Dana Schutz and Monster Chetwynd

In this essay I aim to explain how I interpret four pieces of contemporary art work through the lens of performance. Firstly, I will be analysing one of Nicole Eisenman's beer garden paintings, ‘Brooklyn Biergarten II’ by using Sartre's idea of bad faith and the waiter and Erving Goffman's book, ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’ to explain how performance manifests itself through social roles. I’ll then be looking at another Eisenman painting ‘Morning Affirmations’, and explaining how I interpret it as a depiction of an animal costume therefore denoting performance. I'll be contextualising these ideas through Teixeira Pinto’s essay ‘The Post-Human Animal’ and introducing post-humanist theories through Glenn Loughrey’s ‘To Be or Not to Be – Identity Formation in a Post-Human World’ which discusses ideas formed by Foucault, Derrida and Levinas. I will argue that the depiction of humans as animals, and the anthropomorphisation of animals is a post-human response to contemporary society. An artist who decentres the human body by creating hybrid creatures, in between animal and human is Dana Schutz. I will be talking about her painting ‘Everything and Nothing’, and examining the use of animals through Filipa Ramos’ ‘Introductions Art Across Species and Beings’. I will argue that the use of costume in this piece is inherently suggestive of performance. Lastly I will be analysing Monster Chetwynd's ‘Uptight Upright Upside Down’ artwork’s use of materials and mediums. This is because she explicitly uses performance, costume and animals to create unchronological narratives with fantastical visuals. To aid this discussion I will be referencing John Berger’s ‘Why Look at Animals’ and David Roden’s ‘Posthumanism Life’ which discusses Neil Badmington's theories.