Performance Art... Now This is Far Out!

A recent topic in Art206 lectures involved performance art. No, not theatre, this is a very unique and interesting form of art in which a single, unusual act is made by the artist with his/her body to either A) make a finished recognizable image, or B) make a statement through the act, and the act itself is the art. This is very unusual to me, and I didn't know it actually existed until I had taken art classes. I'm sure many of you have heard of Chris Burden, a man who had himself shot, crucified to a car, run over by a car, and burned all for the sake of art performance. To me, this is art to the extreme; this is an underground art that a select few know about and appreciate. I myself, feel that the work of Chris Burden was unnecessary and vulgaristic, and I'm glad it was self-inflicted. I have this feeling that if I were to walk by and see him making his "performance art" in the street, I would say to myself, "Ok, I don't get it, but if you want to do that, man, go ahead and make a fool of yourself... ." But, the point I would like to make is, do any of you agree with my statement that performance art is "underground" and very unheard of, perhaps unpopular? Or is it that it is just very unnaccepted, and will someday reach a level of importance and be worthy of reverence? Responses welcome.