A history of the body as an object of display in museums : Schematic images in performance

Since the 2000s, museums have been presenting an increasing number of performances outside the traditional framework of specfic activities. Although this change in programing is in line with the evolution of the field of performance, it also appears to meet the request for the creation of events that museums now honor in a compliance that could favour the display of works whose very subject is the institution itself. This context would benefit performances using schematic images as defined by art historian Horst Bredekamp -, both in the way they are set up and in their narrative potential. Taking the 1970s as a starting point, this article envisions the history of performances in a museum setting from the perspective of artists' use of schematic images conceived with the body, according to Horst Bredekamp's definition. Salient examples for mapping this type of performance and the museum collections are provided in order to identify modes of presentation and issues linked to the body as an object displayed in a museum.