Resetting the Coordinates

A history of performance art

The first anthology/reader of performance art of Aotearoa New Zealand, Resetting the Coordinates offers a lively, 50-year critical survey of Aotearoa New Zealand’s globally unique performance art scene. 

From the post-object and performance art of the late 1960s to the rich vein of Māori and Pacific performance art from the early 1990s, its 18 chapters by researchers and practitioners is a major reference for art and performance communities of New Zealand, Australia and further afield. 

It discusses the influential work of Jim Allen, Phil Dadson, Peter Roche and Linda Buis, performance art initiatives in post-earthquake Christchurch and queer performance art, among many other topics. 

To look inside, click here.

‘Kudos to the editors for assembling an anthology equal parts provocative, fascinating and necessary’ — Theo Macdonald, North & South

‘It is a fascinating book with lots of performances which have been rarely written about, seemingly lost to history but which tell us much about the social, political and spiritual examinations and soundings which artists have made.’ – John Daly-Peoples, NZ Arts Review