Chloe’s Work

Week 2

Exercise

Be still. For one hour.

For this week’s exercise I chose to sit on the edge of the roof. I live in an attic apartment that has a little balcony out onto the roof, so I thought I would take advantage of the nice view.

The pose I chose was nothing fancy. I decided to sit as if I was meditating, because that is essentially what this exercise was for me. It was really nice to be able to enjoy the crisp Fall weather and take some time to just sit with myself and breathe.

The pictures you can click through above were taken by my roommate, who I asked to photograph me during the hour. In one of the images you can see one of my house mate’s cats watching me, which I thought was pretty funny.

Marina Abramovic

Marina was raised in Yugoslavia by parents who were eventually employed in the communist government.

Marina became interested in performance art, in particular the possibilities of her own body as a site of artistic and spiritual exploration.

Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful, 1975

• This performance continues to resonate today as the beauty remains a valued commodity in our society.
• Marina comments on the idea that art has to be aesthetically pleasing to be art through an almost grotesque performance where she aggressively brushes her hair and repeats the work’s title over and over like a mantra.

“Performance art isn’t representation, but life itself.” – Christina Grammatikopoulou 

Breathing In, Breathing Out, 1977

• In this piece made with her partner Ulay, the two artist blocked their nostrils and pressed their mouths together, such so they were breathing only each other’s air.
• This piece was particularly of interest to me, because I feel as though it exemplifies the idea that two people become one in a relationship.
• There’s that mythological story that states that at one time humans each had a half and then God separated them, insomuch that those two humans would search for each other for eternity.
  • Of course, the idea that you need someone else to feel whole is definitely an outdated concept. But I think that many people still have the impression that falling in love will complete them.
• In this piece, both Ulay and Marina pass out after 17 minutes.
  • I feel as though this represents the idea that relying on someone else (your partner) for your own happiness can only last so long, and at the end of the day you need to find purpose within yourself – you have to breathe your own air.

The Artist is Present, 2012

Film

• Looking at many Marinas
  • Daughter of two partisan parents, two national heroes.
    • Power
  • Little girl whose mother didn’t give her enough love.
    • Vulnerable, disappointed, sad
  • One who has spiritual wisdom and go beyond all that.
• What it takes to be an artist
  • Structural work that has nothing to do with creativity.
• Performance emerged in the sixties as a result of a challenge to painting.
  • The medium is the body.
• Marina used the human body to make statements, which were sometimes dangerous and were quite provocative.
• At the heart of her art is the shared experience between the performance and the viewer.
• PERFORMANCE
  • Empty yourself, be able to be in present time.
  • Performance requires an emotional approach.
  • Artist must be able to conquer them self and their weaknesses.
  • Performance is a state of mind.
• Marina had a very disciplined childhood.
  • Her grandmother was a source of spirituality and allowed her to be a child.
• MANIFESTO
  • AN ARTIST SHOULD NOT:
    • Lie to himself or to others
    • Steal ideas from other artists
    • Compromise for themselves or in regard to the art market
    • should not kill another human being
    • Should not make self into an idol
  • AN ARTIST RELATIONSHIP TO LOVE LIFE:
    • Avoid falling in love with another artist
    • Fall to avoid falling in love with another artist
• MARINA AND ULAY
  • Lovers, friends, and performers all at once.
  • Their relationship fell into very male/female stereotypical roles.
  • Symbiotic quality.
  • When she split with Ulay, Marina fell into depression because she lost the man she loved and she felt that she had also lost her work because they had done so much of it together.
• Marina is never not performing. 

“When you perform, there is a knife and your blood; when you are acting, it’s just ketchup”.

• NIGHTSEA CROSSING
  • Man and women sitting opposite in two chairs, motionless, silent, and fasting.
  • Tremendous dislike from Western society.
    • Inactivity is discredited
    • Silence is discredited
    • Fasting is discredited
  • Went on for hours, days, weeks.
• THE LOVERS, 1988
  • Marina and Ulay walked the Great Wall of China towards each other from opposite ends.
  • The walk ended with them splitting up.
  • Took 8 years of permission to walk the wall.

• THE ARTIST IS PRESENT, 2010
  • It’s a piece that can fail.
  • I found the moment when Ulay sat down across from Marina to be a very powerful moment in the documentary, as it was very reminiscent of their past work Nightsea Crossing.
  • It was almost a sort of closure, a true last performance and reunion.
  • Seeing Marina get so emotional after reaching across the table to hold Ulay’s hands was very intense and beautiful.
  • Marina makes herself vulnerable; no obstacles between her and the viewer.
  • This piece demonstrates the power of human connection.
    • It was beautiful to see the profound impact simply sitting across from Marina had on the individuals that came.
    • The act of staring into her eyes in silence made many people emotional.
    • There is beauty in the mundanity of simply looking into someone’s eyes.
• The world is moving so fast now. Marina asks us to slow down.