Precis: But is it Art?

Schechner uses this question and attempts to put performance theater and the authenticity of the avant gaurde theater into their appropriate realms. The traditional theater is grounded in narrative but these new performances seem more interested in the experience of the audience and reaction. Schechner shows the fine line between “art” and “life”, especially when the audience, by their attendance alone, become apart of the show. “How can you distinguish between performance and nonperformance, between art and life? I’m not sure that it’s an important question as such. The artists of Squat assert that what is “art” depends on the frame surrounding the actions” (Schechner 308). Their art form is presenting a distinction (or lack of) between “life” and “art”. Art does not always have to be defined by the edge of a canvas or the end of a stage.