Uncollectable by Design

Performance art widened what art could even be:

• The body as medium challenged the idea that art must be an object
• It can't be commodified — you can't hang a live action on a wall or sell it at auction
• It proved that pure presence, with nothing made and nothing kept, can move people deeply
• It made the artwork a one-time event rather than a permanent thing

So it forces an uncomfortable question. If art doesn't have to be beautiful, doesn't have to last, and doesn't have to be an object, then what is left? The answer: whatever happens when an artist decides that this action, this body, right now, is enough.