''High Performance'' was a quarterly arts magazine based out of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

founded in 1978 and published until 1997. Its editorial mission was to provide support and a critical context for new, innovative and unrecognized work in the arts. ''High Performance'' started out covering exclusively

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

and gradually grew to include

video Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) syste ...

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

, and public art. It dealt with viewing the arts in the larger context of contemporary life, examining how the arts contribute in addressing

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...

and cultural concerns, and also how those concerns impact the arts. In 1994, ''High Performance'' received the

Alternative Press Award Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

for Cultural Coverage from the ''

Utne Reader ''Utne Reader'' (also known as ''Utne'') ( ) is a digital digest that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and ...

'', and was nominated three other times for the same award.

Editors and publishers

Linda Frye Burnham Linda Frye Burnham (born 1940) is an American writer whose work and research focuses on performance art, community art, education and activism. In 1978 she was the founding editor of High Performance Magazine and later served as co-editor wit ...

served as the magazine's founding editor from 1978 to 1985. Steven Durland was the editor from 1986 until its end in 1997. From 1983 to 1995, ''High Performance'' was published by Astro Artz (renamed

18th Street Arts Center 18th Street Arts Center is a nonprofit arts center in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in 1988 and is the longest running artist residency center in Southern California. 18th Street Arts Center’s residency program hosts 60 or more Ameri ...

in 1988). In July 1995, ''High Performance'' was acquired by Art in the Public Interest (API), a new organization formed by Burnham and Durland to research and develop information about artists collaborating with their communities. After a brief hiatus, the magazine renewed publication in early 1996 and published five more issues, but rising costs and an inability to garner needed stabilization funding forced API to cease publication in 1997. In 1999, Burnham and Durland initiated the Community Arts Network on the Web. Much of the content from ''High Performance'' is available on that site.

External links

High Performance Magazine Complete Issue List Art in the Public Interest
* Finding aid for High Performance magazine records, 1953-2005, Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles.

References

{{Reflist Visual arts magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Performance art in Los Angeles Magazines established in 1978 Magazines disestablished in 1997 Performance art Contemporary art magazines Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines published in Los Angeles