Life, death, and art of Marina Abramović at gres art 671

THE EXHIBITION STRUCTURE: BREATH, BODY, THE OTHER, DEATH

The exhibition is divided into four moments or acts – the connection with theatre and in particular with the opera is indeed crucial. The first is dedicated to Breath, the vital force par excellence that in the exhibition explodes through those actions in which the act of breathing acts as a medium and activator. In Freeing the Memory (1975) Abramović lists all the words she can remember while the breath provides cadence to the performance in which fullness and apparent emptiness alternate. On the other hand, in Freeing the Voice (1975) breathing becomes the absolute protagonist: a continuous scream that transforms breathing into a sound object. Finally, breathing as a metaphor for resilience and survival under the burdens of life takes center stage in Dozing Consciousness (1997), in which the artist breathes heavily while covered by hundreds of quartz crystals that move with her inhaling and exhaling. From the breath we pass to the body, its main medium, often pushed to its limits: pain, vulnerability, and violent conflicting emotions. Among the works displayed in this section in video format are some of her most well-known performances: from Lips of Thomas (1975/1993), perhaps one of the most disturbing because of the violence she inflicted on herself that led the audience to actively intervene, breaking the barrier of the observer and anticipating the theme of the following block of works, to Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful (1975), in which the act of combing her hair while incessantly repeating the phrase of the title aims to question the role of woman and artist imposed on her by society. 

THE OTHER AND THE LIAISON DANGEREUSE WITH ULAY

Abramović is also very famous for her turbulent relationship with the German artist Ulay, which gave rise to many performances that have marked the history of performance art. A dialogue that highlighted the loving and, in some ways, toxic dynamics of their liaison dangereuse – a notable absentee from this exhibition is Breathing In/Breathing Out (1977), where the two artists, with their nostrils plugged with cigarette filters, breathe into each other’s mouths until they both pass out from lack of oxygen. Nonetheless, there is no shortage of milestones in their collaboration, such as Rest Energy (1980) and Imponderabilia (1977). However, the great Other that has accompanied Abramović since the beginning of her career is the public, her main interlocutor who provides her artistic practice with meaning. The French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy extensively addressed this issue in his essay Being Singular Plural; he argues that an entity in its individuality cannot be a bearer of meaning, but this only happens in relation to other subjects. Abramović’s artistic practice exemplifies this concept by transforming the observer into an active participant. For the exhibition, the artist revisited two famous performances – Mambo in Marienbad (2001) and Spirit House (1997) – by delineating a space on the floor to allow the audience to dance with her in front of the screen. However, the experiment seems to rather reveal the weakness of performance art when deprived of its physical and experiential sphere – during my visit no one danced, perhaps for fear of appearing ridiculous or weird, which is precisely the aim of Mambo in Marienbad. Inside the former mental asylum in Volterra, Tuscany, the audience had to wear magnetic black shoes that, by limiting their movements, forced people to relive the feeling of clumsiness and discomfort often associated with madness.