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Marina Abramovich (November 30, 1946) - bright and shocking, strong and unshakable, timid and vulnerable artist of Serbian origin, who devoted her life to the art of performance. Extravagant actions with the participation of Abramovich surprise, frighten, shock and disgust, curiosity and delight. For five decades of creative activity, a spectacular brunette was often accused of Satanism, cannibalism, masochism, insanity, but never - in creating a boring or meaningless performance. Fearless and adventurous antics of Abramovich from year to year cause a storm of emotions among the public and a flurry of discussions in creative circles, because every time they literally dissect a human being: they explore the limits of the body's capabilities and reveal the ugliest sides of the soul.
The main idea of Marina Abramovich's creativity - direct interaction between the artist and the viewer. Choosing her own body as a subject and a starting point for spiritual development, the author explored it for strength in all possible ways: she publicly naked, masturbated, whipped herself, cut herself, deprived of oxygen, starved, beat against walls and lay on the ice. According to the artist, her actions have nothing to do with a craving for self-torture. Seeing the naked body of Abramovich and the tests to which she subjects herself, the viewer touches such deep and complex topics as personal boundaries, unconditional trust, loneliness and fatigue, moral and physical strength, and most importantly - the fragility and transience of life, the inevitability of death.
The most resonant works of Marina Abramovich: "Rhythm 10" 1973, "Rhythm 0" 1974, Thomas Lips 1975, "Energy of rest" 1980, "Balkan Baroque" 1997, "House with an ocean view" 2002, "In the presence of the artist" 2010.
The future "grandmother of performance" was born in Belgrade, in a family of Yugoslav partisans of the Second World War, and later - of the nomenklatura workers of socialist Yugoslavia. The girl, who suffered from migraines, was punished from childhood for offenses by being locked in a closet. This influenced the specifics of Abramovich's future performances: they always contain physical pain and bodily discomfort. Theatrical gestures of parents living in a state of war, making scandals and breaking dishes, led Marina to the idea that life itself is an endless show, a performance.
The child grew up in a privileged family and from childhood saw the contrast between propaganda and reality, declared values and social injustice. One of the matinees in the kindergarten, where the parents dressed the kids in cute and funny costumes, became a kind of prophecy. Mom dressed Marina in a devil costume. After a few seconds of confusion and confusion, the girl realized that this particular image suits her like no other. According to the artist, this moment greatly influenced the choice of lifestyle and creativity.
The inner imp has been raging in the Marina since adolescence. At the age of 14, the girl played Russian roulette with her mother's pistol. One of the first "artistic acts" of the future performance star was an attempt to break her nose, force her parents to pay for plastic surgery and achieve the fulfillment of a girl's dream - to become at least a little like Brigitte Bardot. And these were also "flowers".
An important lesson in creative "hooliganism" was taught to the 14-year-old girl by a friend of her father's, the artist Filipovich, when he poured paint, glue, gasoline and arson on the canvas with the words "This is a sunset." A few minutes later, a pile of ash remained from the sunset painting, and Marina became firmly convinced that the process in art is more important than the result. And when she saw the elusive white traces of military aircraft in the sky, Abramovich stopped drawing and made the final decision: "I myself will become art!"
After the divorce, the mother, an army major and director of the Museum of the Revolution, established an army order in the family: a strict regime, total control and no expressions of affection. It is not surprising that in the end the girl fled Belgrade and chose to earn a living by any part-time job.
At the age of 19, while studying at an art school, Marina came up with her first performance for a Belgrade gallery: viewers were asked to undress at the entrance so that the artist would wash their clothes. The management of the gallery has been thinking for several years, evaluating the idea of a young talent and ... not appreciating it. Many years later, the drawings for the application for the event will become the oldest and most valuable exhibit in the artist's large retrospective at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
In 1973, Abramovich's first performance, Rhythm 10, took place, thanks to which the Russian prison game entered the history of the art of actionism. The artist took turns taking one of twenty knives and quickly stuck it into the space between her fingers, recording the process on an audio cassette. After another cut, the girl changed the knife and, focusing on the sound of the recording, started all over again. The action symbolized the painful mistakes of a person, which he repeats throughout his life.
One of the brightest and most dangerous performances by Marina Abramovic took place in 1974 and made the name of the Serbian "extreme" known to the whole world. In the room, on the table, the artist placed 78 objects that visitors could use at their own discretion: to cause pain or pleasure. A rose, a whip, apples, a flashlight, a knife, matches and even a loaded pistol. For six hours, Abramovich dutifully allowed the audience to do whatever they wanted with her body with the help of objects. Within an hour, “ordinary, normal” people began to cut off the artist's clothes, touch her intimate parts, and make cuts, and one of the visitors put a loaded pistol in the hand of the half-naked girl and pointed it at her neck. The action demonstrated how cruel people become next to an impersonal victim who does not offer any resistance. “I wanted to show one thing: it's just amazing how quickly a civilized person can return to a wild cave state, if he is allowed to!” - explained later the punctured and cut Abramovich.
In 1976, the artist moved to Amsterdam, where she met the German performance artist Uwe Laysiepen (pseudonym - Ulay). Marina and Ulay - that's really who seemed to be the perfect couple. They were born on the same day, adored protesting, aggressive actionism and even dressed like twins. In joint actions, the artists focused on the emotional and spiritual interaction of two parts of a single whole - Men and Women. The couple connected their mouths with a special reagent and breathed in each other's exhales until they lost consciousness from an excess of carbon dioxide in their lungs; for almost a day they sat with their hair woven into a single ball; naked and wandering in a dark room, hitting the walls and against each other; their mouths were sewn up ... A bright final chord of the relationship was supposed to be a wedding announcement in the middle of the Great Wall of China, along which the lovers walked towards each other. Alas, while the performance was being planned and negotiations with the Chinese authorities were underway, the relationship between the pair became very strained. As a result, Marina and Ulai walked 2500 km, met at the planned place and said goodbye forever. Ulay married a Chinese translator who was pregnant with him, and Marina plunged headlong into creativity.
After parting with her lover, Marina Abramovich's projects became more ambitious, acquired social and political acuteness. In 1997, the Balkan Baroque took place, which brought the artist of the Golden Lion to the 47th Venice Biennale and recognition among the representatives of the intellectual elite. In the 21st century, the name of Marina Abramovich has become a fashion brand.
Over the past decade, the unfading Balkan "witch" has taught at the world's largest universities, starred in films and commercials, staged plays, and participated in the creation of the Performance Preservation Center. He also admits that he loves fashion, chocolate, bad films and lying in bed. It seems that Marina Abramovich is not only a brand, a cult name for performance art, but also an ordinary woman.
Author: Victoria Volkova.
The main idea of Marina Abramovich's creativity - direct interaction between the artist and the viewer. Choosing her own body as a subject and a starting point for spiritual development, the author explored it for strength in all possible ways: she publicly naked, masturbated, whipped herself, cut herself, deprived of oxygen, starved, beat against walls and lay on the ice. According to the artist, her actions have nothing to do with a craving for self-torture. Seeing the naked body of Abramovich and the tests to which she subjects herself, the viewer touches such deep and complex topics as personal boundaries, unconditional trust, loneliness and fatigue, moral and physical strength, and most importantly - the fragility and transience of life, the inevitability of death.
The most resonant works of Marina Abramovich: "Rhythm 10" 1973, "Rhythm 0" 1974, Thomas Lips 1975, "Energy of rest" 1980, "Balkan Baroque" 1997, "House with an ocean view" 2002, "In the presence of the artist" 2010.
The future "grandmother of performance" was born in Belgrade, in a family of Yugoslav partisans of the Second World War, and later - of the nomenklatura workers of socialist Yugoslavia. The girl, who suffered from migraines, was punished from childhood for offenses by being locked in a closet. This influenced the specifics of Abramovich's future performances: they always contain physical pain and bodily discomfort. Theatrical gestures of parents living in a state of war, making scandals and breaking dishes, led Marina to the idea that life itself is an endless show, a performance.
The child grew up in a privileged family and from childhood saw the contrast between propaganda and reality, declared values and social injustice. One of the matinees in the kindergarten, where the parents dressed the kids in cute and funny costumes, became a kind of prophecy. Mom dressed Marina in a devil costume. After a few seconds of confusion and confusion, the girl realized that this particular image suits her like no other. According to the artist, this moment greatly influenced the choice of lifestyle and creativity.
The inner imp has been raging in the Marina since adolescence. At the age of 14, the girl played Russian roulette with her mother's pistol. One of the first "artistic acts" of the future performance star was an attempt to break her nose, force her parents to pay for plastic surgery and achieve the fulfillment of a girl's dream - to become at least a little like Brigitte Bardot. And these were also "flowers".
An important lesson in creative "hooliganism" was taught to the 14-year-old girl by a friend of her father's, the artist Filipovich, when he poured paint, glue, gasoline and arson on the canvas with the words "This is a sunset." A few minutes later, a pile of ash remained from the sunset painting, and Marina became firmly convinced that the process in art is more important than the result. And when she saw the elusive white traces of military aircraft in the sky, Abramovich stopped drawing and made the final decision: "I myself will become art!"
After the divorce, the mother, an army major and director of the Museum of the Revolution, established an army order in the family: a strict regime, total control and no expressions of affection. It is not surprising that in the end the girl fled Belgrade and chose to earn a living by any part-time job.
At the age of 19, while studying at an art school, Marina came up with her first performance for a Belgrade gallery: viewers were asked to undress at the entrance so that the artist would wash their clothes. The management of the gallery has been thinking for several years, evaluating the idea of a young talent and ... not appreciating it. Many years later, the drawings for the application for the event will become the oldest and most valuable exhibit in the artist's large retrospective at the New York Museum of Modern Art.
In 1973, Abramovich's first performance, Rhythm 10, took place, thanks to which the Russian prison game entered the history of the art of actionism. The artist took turns taking one of twenty knives and quickly stuck it into the space between her fingers, recording the process on an audio cassette. After another cut, the girl changed the knife and, focusing on the sound of the recording, started all over again. The action symbolized the painful mistakes of a person, which he repeats throughout his life.
One of the brightest and most dangerous performances by Marina Abramovic took place in 1974 and made the name of the Serbian "extreme" known to the whole world. In the room, on the table, the artist placed 78 objects that visitors could use at their own discretion: to cause pain or pleasure. A rose, a whip, apples, a flashlight, a knife, matches and even a loaded pistol. For six hours, Abramovich dutifully allowed the audience to do whatever they wanted with her body with the help of objects. Within an hour, “ordinary, normal” people began to cut off the artist's clothes, touch her intimate parts, and make cuts, and one of the visitors put a loaded pistol in the hand of the half-naked girl and pointed it at her neck. The action demonstrated how cruel people become next to an impersonal victim who does not offer any resistance. “I wanted to show one thing: it's just amazing how quickly a civilized person can return to a wild cave state, if he is allowed to!” - explained later the punctured and cut Abramovich.
In 1976, the artist moved to Amsterdam, where she met the German performance artist Uwe Laysiepen (pseudonym - Ulay). Marina and Ulay - that's really who seemed to be the perfect couple. They were born on the same day, adored protesting, aggressive actionism and even dressed like twins. In joint actions, the artists focused on the emotional and spiritual interaction of two parts of a single whole - Men and Women. The couple connected their mouths with a special reagent and breathed in each other's exhales until they lost consciousness from an excess of carbon dioxide in their lungs; for almost a day they sat with their hair woven into a single ball; naked and wandering in a dark room, hitting the walls and against each other; their mouths were sewn up ... A bright final chord of the relationship was supposed to be a wedding announcement in the middle of the Great Wall of China, along which the lovers walked towards each other. Alas, while the performance was being planned and negotiations with the Chinese authorities were underway, the relationship between the pair became very strained. As a result, Marina and Ulai walked 2500 km, met at the planned place and said goodbye forever. Ulay married a Chinese translator who was pregnant with him, and Marina plunged headlong into creativity.
After parting with her lover, Marina Abramovich's projects became more ambitious, acquired social and political acuteness. In 1997, the Balkan Baroque took place, which brought the artist of the Golden Lion to the 47th Venice Biennale and recognition among the representatives of the intellectual elite. In the 21st century, the name of Marina Abramovich has become a fashion brand.
Over the past decade, the unfading Balkan "witch" has taught at the world's largest universities, starred in films and commercials, staged plays, and participated in the creation of the Performance Preservation Center. He also admits that he loves fashion, chocolate, bad films and lying in bed. It seems that Marina Abramovich is not only a brand, a cult name for performance art, but also an ordinary woman.
Author: Victoria Volkova.
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