Since the 1960s, California-based artists Linda Montano and Eleanor Antin have both explored a set of themes relating to identity and transformation through performance. The artists’ books and posters collected here document a range of projects from the artists in which they give over elements of their lives to an encompassing art practice and forcibly fuse the two together.

Montano’s performances are often read as physical and spiritual feats of endurance, present life-altering adjustments that were often long-term. In one of her most well-known pieces alongside fellow ‘endurance’ artist Tehching Hsieh, the two spent one year linked together by a rope.

Similarly in ART IN EVERYDAY LIFE, a 1981 publication, Montano presents elements of her life as a set of performative artworks. Each action is described first as ‘Art’ (the project itself) and then a second time as ‘Life’ (personal description of the situations and thoughts that informed the project). The publication concludes with one of her most powerful works, “Mitchell’s Death”, which mourns her ex-husband’s unexpected death, describing her reaction when she first heard the news, the days following his death, and her attempt to confront the loss and transform it into something lasting.

Eleanor Antin likewise seeks to break down the usual boundaries of identity by adopting multiple “selves”, or performative personae, of various gender, race, and historical context. These myriad chameleonic performances serve to erode the distinctions of identity commonly accepted in cultural and historical tradition.

Antin’s well-known work 100 Boots, serves as a visual narrative in which 50 pairs of boot ‘journey’ from the west to the east US coast. Across 51 installments, the photo project shows the boots engaging in a series of everyday suburban activities before showing solidarity with the Vietnam antiwar movement. The photographs included in the book were originally reproduced as postcards and circulated to artists friends.