TV trails artists as explorers of 'real'

If television shows no longer need scripts or professional actors to entertain us, should art have to hang on a wall in a frame to be art?

Actually, visual artists have been way ahead of "reality TV" for some time. "Performance" art, video art, and "installations" have been stretching the definitions of art for quite some time now.

Last month, according to a report in The Art Newspaper in Britain, Spanish artist Santiago Sierra paid 20 people to play the part of "immigrants." They hunkered down in the hold of a ship, the Mare Mágnum, for three hours a day as it repeatedly crossed the harbor in Barcelona. (No one could see them in the windowless space, raising another question: Can art happen if no one is there to experience it?)

"It is not good enough just to make films or write articles about exploitation. You have to confront people with it in as clear a way as possible," Mr. Sierra said.

A previous bit of Sierra "reality art" was shown last fall at New York's P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center. "Person Remunerated for a Period of 360 Consecutive Hours" was supposed to make a statement on confinement and incarceration. A person hired by Sierra lived behind a brick wall for 15 days, barely visible through a small opening, responding to visitors in any way he chose.

At this summer's Venice Biennale, a gathering of major contemporary art from around the world, Sierra asked 200 people with dark hair and skin to bleach their hair and walk around, exploring the concept of "identity."

Think "Survivor," "Big Brother," or "Real World" gives you a slice of real life? Artists have already been there, done that.

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