Parachute: The Anthology, Volume II: Performance and Performativity (Documents)

In 1975, a small group of enterprising, discontented members of the international art community in Quebec posed the question: “What do we know of contemporary art outside of Quebec, in Canada or abroad? Do we even know what contemporary art exists in Montreal? How does information about art circulate?” By way of an answer, the artistically unconventional and theoretically cutting-edge magazine Parachute was launched, founded by Chantal Pontbriand and France Morin. Artists such as Jeff Wall, Bill Viola, Stan Douglas, Eija-Liisa Ahtila and many others had the first significant critical reception of their work in Parachute. Similarly, figures such as Douglas Crimp, Thomas Crow, Thierry de Duve, Georges Didi-Huberman, Hal Foster and Laura Mulvey published important early essays in the journal. This second volume of writings from Parachute gathers texts around “Performance and Performativity.”