
Perform Design Act
Performance Design Provocations
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 25. May 2026
Book
Hardback
108 pages
978-1-032-70542-2 (ISBN)
Description
Perform Design Act is a groundbreaking reflection on two decades of Performance Design as a transformative interdisciplinary field, challenging conventional approaches to creative practice and event-making.
This illuminating collection examines the evolution and impact of Performance Design since its establishment as a university subject twenty years ago. The authors, pioneers in this interdisciplinary domain, present provocative insights gained through extensive collaboration with thinkers, artists, and institutions across music, theatre, dance, architecture, and design. Employing critical analysis and innovative expressions, the book explores how Performance Design has developed its theoretical foundations while emerging as a significant art form in its own right. Readers will discover how this field has reshaped approaches to event creation, spatial relationships, and worldbuilding through its unique integration of diverse creative disciplines.
This book will appeal to artists, researchers, educators, and students in spatial, visual, and performing arts programs, as well as those engaged with social and cultural humanities who seek to understand how creative practices intersect with broader societal contexts.
This illuminating collection examines the evolution and impact of Performance Design since its establishment as a university subject twenty years ago. The authors, pioneers in this interdisciplinary domain, present provocative insights gained through extensive collaboration with thinkers, artists, and institutions across music, theatre, dance, architecture, and design. Employing critical analysis and innovative expressions, the book explores how Performance Design has developed its theoretical foundations while emerging as a significant art form in its own right. Readers will discover how this field has reshaped approaches to event creation, spatial relationships, and worldbuilding through its unique integration of diverse creative disciplines.
This book will appeal to artists, researchers, educators, and students in spatial, visual, and performing arts programs, as well as those engaged with social and cultural humanities who seek to understand how creative practices intersect with broader societal contexts.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Postgraduate and Professional Reference
Product notice
Laminated cover
Illustrations
14 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder, 14 s/w Abbildungen
14 Halftones, black and white; 14 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 10 mm
Weight
361 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-70542-2 (9781032705422)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download

E-Book
05/2026
1st Edition
Routledge
€60.49
Available for download
Persons
Dorita Hannah is a New Zealand-based performance architect, independent academic, visual artist, and designer.
Olav Harslof is a former principal of the Danish National Theatre School & School of Modern Dance, the Danish National Conversatory of Rhythmic Music, and Performance Design professor at Roskilde University.
Jon McKenzie is a performance theorist, media maker, and transdisciplinary researcher and teacher at Cornell University.
Olav Harslof is a former principal of the Danish National Theatre School & School of Modern Dance, the Danish National Conversatory of Rhythmic Music, and Performance Design professor at Roskilde University.
Jon McKenzie is a performance theorist, media maker, and transdisciplinary researcher and teacher at Cornell University.
Content
Foreword by Dorita Hannah, Olav Harslof, and Jon McKenzie
Preface: Who Is Performance Design For? by Rachel Hann
1. Arts and Humanities Go Design: Perform It!
Olav Harslof
2. Staging Critical Spatial Acts: What Is (a) Theatre Now We Call it Performance?
Dorita Hannah
3. Design or Else: StudioLab, Traumaturgy, and Platform Performativity
Jon McKenzie
Index
Preface: Who Is Performance Design For? by Rachel Hann
1. Arts and Humanities Go Design: Perform It!
Olav Harslof
2. Staging Critical Spatial Acts: What Is (a) Theatre Now We Call it Performance?
Dorita Hannah
3. Design or Else: StudioLab, Traumaturgy, and Platform Performativity
Jon McKenzie
Index