Scott Burton's Behavior Tableaux (1970-72)

Abstract

Kinesic and proxemic behaviors are only two of many cross-referenced expressive means that convey information about situations. Because of this, communicative aspects of movement and position, like rules of language structure (grammar, syntax, etc.), have tended to remain “invisible,”overshadowed by subject matter and other expressive means. This is not the case in Scott Burton's Behavior Tableaux, a five-part performance piece composed of approximately 80 silent tableaux vivants. Some tableaux, lasting only a few seconds, are static pictures exhibiting proxemic (spatial) relationships between interactants; others, lasting as long as five minutes, offer isolated elements of kinesic behavior (movement), which develop the scene beyond what could be conveyed by spatial relationships alone.Behavior Tableaux is about how males relate to each other through “body language” and manipulations of “personal space” within five distinct group situations: the harmonious peer-group; the discordant peer-group; the group and leader; the group and outsider; and the “non-group.”