The glare from the overhead projector will cut the darkness tonight. An assistant in a white coat will turn off the light as Wendy White crosses the stage and seats herself in front of a television.

As White talks about the stages in her life and the TV shows she has watched, her assistant will flash statistics about children and television on an overhead projector. The objective: to make the audience think more closely about what television says.

White's piece, "Somavision," is just one part of Torrid Zones: An Evening of Performance Art at 9 p.m. in 302 Patterson. White (senior-theatre) and eight other students will make public their 1993 final projects from Art 497 C -- Performance Art.

The production centers around 10 social-political themes, ranging from how the limits of good taste create shame about the body to the influence of the media.

"I think performance art is a very important vehicle for political statements," said Jennifer Dowlin, a class member. Because students are performing, "It can relate to (students') lives more than professional art," she added.

The audience will find the show thought provoking, while experiencing performance art, "Something that is not experienced often on this campus," said Charles Garoian, class instructor and an assistant professor of art education.

"Performance art is not any one particular genre of art -- it's a hybrid," White said. "It's highly visual . . . and highly experimental."

Although many of the class members agreed that it is difficult to describe their own projects in words (you just have to see it), they have different ideas of what performance art entails.

Because of the way the body is used to make symbols and expressions, Dowlin (senior-painting) said performance art is another medium for artists, just like theater or dance.

Performance art is composed of multiple components -- one of which is the artist's body -- but Garoian does not think it should be connected with theater. It contains a story-telling component, but "people aren't playing a role . . . it's autobiographical," he said.

Even though it uses the same tools as theater and dance, performance art is more visual, said Ken Foster, a student in the class. Also the director for the Center for the Performing Arts, Foster took the class as a break from the administrative duties of his job.

"I looked at performance as a visual artist instead of a theater artist," he said. "It gave me a new perspective on performance as an art."

Performance art is the ideal art form for the late 20th century because it is complex and varied without a set definition, Foster said.

"It's a product of the contemporary world -- constantly breaking boundries, constantly changing," he said. "The intent of the art form is to push the boundries of what we think of as performance. It defies the rules."