ABSTRACT
A group of Neo-Dada artists and its subsequent offshoot Hi-Red Center used objects and things to reimagine other ways of moving through urban space by reexamining the premise of communication. They metaphorically broke down human bodies to locate alternative coordinates of navigation, as well as severed the link between work and spectators to refuse the recognition that imparts meaning to art. Contrary to the previous readings of Hi-Red Center based on social participation, another interpretation of their performances as exploring the insurmountable distance between subjects and objects is pursued in this chapter. The product of their performance art is not social engagement so much as non-relation at the heart of sociality. Hi-Red Center’s analysis of social discontinuity is partially a commentary on the increasing prevalence of mass communication devices such as television.
