The focal spots in art have changed in the years when postmodernism has gained wide currency, the social themes have been gone to the heart of art. Problems as youth movements of this period, social rebellions, social inequalities, the strict traditional values of the history of art and the institutions of art, the big gap between art and life have canalised to the certain alternative art forms which involve the traces from Conceptual Art the artists, have caused that the artists express oneself via these arts. These activities based upon performance as Happening, Fluxus, Body Art, Video Art and Performance Art have introduced into art scene the body directly by purging its representations. Associated with this transformation, the body as the most natural area which gives chance to the testimonies in person has played a big role in involvement in the artwork of the audience. In this research, the performing arts occuring in visual arts in postmodernism and the body as means of expression of the artist subjects have come up, to shed light to the factors of which the body is the most powerful means of expression of the performing arts has been aimed. In the research, document analysis method as data gathering technique has been applied, written sources and images related to the issue have been used. Data have been interpreted by editing in terms of the subjects and the subjects have been correlated. In consideration of the obtained findings in the research, it has been called attention to that the performing arts and usage of the body as the most active medium in these arts are results of the efforts towards various social and artistic critiques. In this context, actualization and creating effects forms of these efforts have been emphasized on sample artworks of the artists.
Keywords: body, happening, fluxus, body art, video art, performance art