The Birth of Performance Art From the Spirit of Noise: Punk and Performance Art in Croatia

By drawing on the difference between the avant-garde and the alternative forms of art,
this paper deals with the beginnings of performance art in the realm of the alternative
music community in Croatia. One of the first meeting points of performance art and music in
Croatian avant-garde art can be found within the punk subculture, which rejects the
traditional notion of ‘melody’ while favoring noise as the predominant and desired type of
sound. In addition, the fact that punk puts little emphasis on musical virtuosity and highlights
amateurism as a legitimate artistic stance makes some artists prone to theatricality and
performativity, either in the form of performative gests or performative acts. The
article illustrates these issues by focusing on the Croatian alternative punk scene and the
New Wave music of the late 1970s and first half of the 1980s.