Boris Nieslony and His Legacy: A Case Study of a Performance Art Mentor

Abstract

This case study explores multiple ways that Boris Nieslony (1945-) now living in Cologne, Germany is remembered within the context of performance art pedagogy and art history. In this study, his contribution as a mentor, host, and instigator of change has been added to historical record using a case study method, in which I collected oral testimonies from Boris Nieslony, his colleagues, mentees, and the researcher during the 28-day performance art event, Art of Encounter VII (2018). This research serves to challenge assumptions of who Boris Nieslony might be and offers an optimistic model in which performance art can be approached and taught for a meaningful learning experience.Through the lenses of mentoring, hosting, caring, and living and learning together, the findings map the connections of Boris Nieslony and his way of being, with that of opening new portraits of people and places. Authors and art educators argue in favor of performance strategies similar to those of Boris, in which they call for the reconsideration of performance art as tools for experiencing higher levels of consciousness, instilling a culture of meaningful, and social change (Barone & Eisner, 2012; Brentano, 1994; Garoian, 1996; Lucero, 2011; Oberg, 2008; Prendergast, 2008; Sayre, 1989; Stiles, 1993; Torrens, 2014; Ulmer, 1985). Nieslony’s strategies offer a glimpse of the relationships between performance art education, being (Heidegger, 1996) and place (Tuan, 1974) and how they overlap, compliment, and call for change within both traditional and non-traditional learning environments (Lucero, 2011; Sullivan, 2004).