Performative Art

Marina Abramovic

She was born in Belgrad in 1946. When she was 25, she attempt the Academy of Fine Art in Belgrade where she developed her style. She concentrated on performance and visual forms of art. She placed the body at the centre of her art.

For her, everything you want to tell and express had to be transmitted by the body itself.

In 1975 she met the German artist Ulay with whom she worked for several years and who will also be her husband. Their mutual conception of art leads them to produce some remarkable performance

Together, they expressed the duality of relationship, love and anger.

They spilt up in 1988 and she returns to solo performing with video, photography, sound, and sculpture. Her work was exposed in several museums all around the world. 

One of her performances that marked me the most is Rhythm 0 in 1974.

In it, she wanted to see what people are capable to do, when no limits were imposed.

For that, she disposed of various objects and let people do whatever they wanted with her. She couldn't move or talk for 6h.

                           

"There are 72 objects on the table that one a use on me as desired. 

Performance.

I am the object.

During this period I take full responsibility"

During the 3 first hours, people were very nice to her and took care of her body. But after this time two clans emerged, the one that protected her and the one that hurt her. 

The result of this performance? 

When you let people limit power without consequence, they take advantage of it and do things they would never do in reality. 

She led a Performative and conceptual movement feminist movement.

Rest Energy - 1980

They stayed tied to each other for 17 hours 

They expressed their relationship as being so fusional they were almost a body with 2 heads.

 

When they split up, they went to china and rejoined each other in the middle of the great wall.
This separation even though it really took an important place in their art. They met each other in the middle and took different paths forever. 

 In their performance together they showed the reality of love, passion, domestic life, anger, rage, energy, and beauty.

After the Great Wall performance, they stopped seeing each other for 20 years.  It was only in 2010 at Marina's performance that the former lovers saw each other again.

This performance is named " The artist is present" it was performed in the Moma. In it, she sat in front of one person at a time without saying a thing to let the body express itself.

Not speaking makes your body talk, and truly feel emotions.

During this performance, her former lover Ulay showed up and sat in front of her. The two artists hadn't seen each over for two decades and the emotion they expressed, without a word, only with their eyes is majestic.

This moment is one of the more beautiful in performative art. There is the link to the performance and you should really watch it, it is so amazing, powerful and full of emotions, https://youtu.be/ryd__J7nits?t=76

This performance is really important because it reunited the two artists after 20 years.

Their relationship was strong and powerful, they worked together, and shared a vision of the world together.

Their love played an important part in their art. 

Ulay is a german artist who deserves more attention. He was an incredible photographer who worked a lot on gender and masculinity. He used his body to show the beauty of feminity and masculinity mixed up.

S'he -1974

He showed that human beings are not defined by gender, true beauty is what you are doing with this body.
He worked mostly with Polaroid and influenced the world of photography.  

S'he- 1973

He died in 2020, but will always live through his numerous performance and projects. Moreover, he impacted the world of photography and was a pioneer in mixed-gender artistic projects.

1943-2020

Marina Abramovic is still performing today and she lets her body reach the infinite possibility of the mind.

She talks a lot about her art and is a role model for a generation of people.