Review of The Infinity Machine: Mike Parr’s Performance Art 1971-2005, Edward Scheer (Melbourne: Schwartz City Press 2009) Mike Parr: Performances 1971-2008, Mike Parr (Melbourne: Schwartz City Press 2008)

Abstract

In many ways the two books under review here are part of the same book. Edward Scheer’s The Infinity Machine assumed its own subsequent autonomy once it transpired that the tome of Parr’s performances was reaching mammoth proportions, of a weight and magnitude befitting some of the events for which the artist is best known. In a country that is still embarrassed about applying superlatives to anything that is not either overseas or to do with sport, both of these detailed documents make a strong case for Parr as Australia’s greatest performance artist. In addition to their inherent value as documents of over three decades of Parr’s performances, these books convey his extraordinary contribution.