Midterm

Hello bloggers!

Pictured above is one of the great artists in history. Her name is Marina Abramovic, and she is of Yugoslavian descent. Her parents were both military figures, and proud members of the National Communist Party. Abramovic was born into a family that was full of intense contradictions; whether it be from religion, or politics. These contradictions, she explains, provided her with "an unbeatable combination to grow as an artist." Even as a child, Marina displayed incredible ability and talent. She was only 12 years old when she had her first exhibition, which was comprised of mostly drawings and paintings. What her parents, her friends, and even herself didn't know at that time, was just how far her artistic journey would take her. 

Pictured above is perhaps the greatest performance artist in history. Her name is Marina Abramovic, and she has a new fan for life. In her early 20's Marina had a "spiritual revelation", which would shape her entire career and future as an artist. One day, while laying on her back with her eyes to the sky, she noticed the effect that a jet plane flying above had on cloud vapors. Excited and inspired, the young Marina came to a profound realization. She could use anything that her heart desired to create art; water, fire, air, even her very own body! In that moment she understood that it was completely ridiculous to go back to a studio to create something that was two-dimensional. Marina had the entire world at her disposal, and just like that her days of painting were over.

Her early performance pieces incorporated sound into visualizations. It was also at this point that she began to test the limitations of the human body. With a show titled Rhythm 10, Marina used twenty knives and two tape recorders in a performance that attempted to merge past and present. The crowd was overjoyed, and Marina was so pleased by their approval that she decided then and there to never go back to traditional art. Throughout the 1970's her performances became quite violent, and extremely physical. The constant testing of her physical limitations encouraged her to become interested in other areas, like the mental state of peace; achieving it, then extending it. This is an ongoing mission for Marina, as we can see from this image taken during a performance piece at the Museum of Modern Art entitled The Artist is Present:

Lately, like the photo shown above illustrates, Marina has been focusing on longer-duration pieces, including ones in which she never leaves the performance area. One thing is abundantly clear, she is not even close to being finished pushing herself as a performer. However, due to her age, Marina has become somewhat concerned about her legacy as an artist. It has been a strenuous task convincing the masses that what she does is in fact art. Personally, I find that her insecurity actually motivates me as an artist. The way that I see it, if Marina Abramovic- the grandmother of performance art, still feels the need to convince the world of her legitimacy, then I most certainly have a lot of work to do!

There is one specific reason why I chose to structure my first two paragraphs the way that I did, and that is because Marina deserves to be classified as an artist first, and a performance artist second.

I found Marina's work to be extraordinary. Full Disclosure: I was disappointed when I initially saw my assignment. I knew very little about performance art, and even less about the artists themselves. That has eternally changed! I thoroughly enjoyed diving into Marina's world. Her artistic process is remarkable and revolutionary. In fact, I was halfway done watching before I suddenly realized that the profile video itself WAS a performance piece. In closing, I would like to leave you with a quote from the artist herself: 

"An artist should look deep within themselves for inspiration. The deeper they look, the more universal they become. The artist is universe"