The performance of &quot;The Modern Procession&quot; - What happens when art walks into town

This thesis analyzes the art performance The Modern Procession, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Belgium-Mexican artist Francis Alÿs (1959), and performed on June 23, 2002, in New York City. By using interdisciplinary literary research and comparative media research, this unique performance is first studied from an art performance perspective, with a focus on art performances held on the streets. Secondly the performance is placed in the context of definitions of religious processions, and in the third chapter, the Modern Procession is analyzed from an anthropological and social-geographical standpoint. This thorough analysis does not only reveal the many layers of the Modern Procession, but also what happens when art is taken out of the museum and presented in a new context. By presenting the collection of the MoMA on the streets of New York, the connection between collections and museums is made clear: it is namely art that forms the real heart of a...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the art performance The Modern Procession, organized by the Museum of Modern Art in collaboration with Belgium-Mexican artist Francis Alÿs (1959), and performed on June 23, 2002, in New York City. By using interdisciplinary literary research and comparative media research, this unique performance is first studied from an art performance perspective, with a focus on art performances held on the streets. Secondly the performance is placed in the context of definitions of religious processions, and in the third chapter, the Modern Procession is analyzed from an anthropological and social-geographical standpoint. This thorough analysis does not only reveal the many layers of the Modern Procession, but also what happens when art is taken out of the museum and presented in a new context. By presenting the collection of the MoMA on the streets of New York, the connection between collections and museums is made clear: it is namely art that forms the real heart of a museum, not the building where it is displayed.Show less

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The performance of "The Modern Procession" - What happens when art walks into town