High Performance Magazine

High Performance was an American magazine dedicated to performance art, published in Los Angeles from 1978 to 1997. Founded by Linda Frye Burnham, it was the primary periodical documentation of performance art practice in the United States during the 1980s and early 90s, covering body art, durational work, site-specific performance, and the intersections of art, politics, and everyday life.

The magazine co-produced Soundings, a series of live radio performances on KPFK Pacifica Radio in Los Angeles, including Mike Kelley's The Peristaltic Airwaves, broadcast on September 30, 1986 — one of the two works documented on the Compound Annex 2012 release.

Publications gathered here include issues of High Performance and related printed matter documenting the performance art scene it covered. Original period items.

  • Mike Kelley Plato’s Cave, Rothko’s Chapel, Lincoln’s Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves (2012) double CD in sealed jewel case. Purple-toned cover image featuring cave-like formations with white typography. Published by Compound Annex Records. Reverse of sealed Mike Kelley double CD showing track information, recording credits, performance details, and a black-and-white photograph of Kelley. Includes references to Sonic Youth, Artists Space, New York, and KPFK Radio, Los Angeles.

    Mike Kelley — Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves, Compound Annex, 2012

    Mike Kelley — Plato's Cave, Rothko's Chapel, Lincoln's Profile (with Sonic Youth) / The Peristaltic Airwaves, Compound Annex, 2012