Week 10 Blog: Marina Abramović

• Write a brief summary of the creative individual you studied for your report. What is something surprising or unexpected that you learned about creativity from this person’s life experiences?

I already knew a lot about Marina Abramović but I am in the process of finalizing my paper - so I may still discover something new! I guess I can reflect back to when I first learned and heard about her. She was my 1st exposure to Conceptual and Performance Art. I found the artists commitment to these performances very inspiring, as they fully gave themselves mentally and physically to their art. 

My first Art professor had us watch many different videos on Performance art. I specifically remember her explaining the concept that "art" is not always something that has to be positive, it can also be something that is even uncomfortable. Its purpose is to evoke and pull out human emotion, allowing yourself to feel, or even to embrace that uncomfortable feeling at time. I constantly recall her repeating how Marina "committed" to her art by completely surrendering herself to the audience and how these performances would last months, being an interactive or at times an emotional experience for every participant.

 

The one piece that stuck out to me that is known worldwide was called "The Artist is Present" that she performed from March - May 2010. (There is a documentary that may still be on HBO). In my paper, I discussed her rough childhood, rise to fame, heartbreak from a 12 year artistic partnership, and how she prevailed again. In short, here is a brief commenters perfect description to the picture below.

"Marina and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. Retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. After 22 years of not seeing one another, Ulay arrived without her knowing and this is what happened". ~ YouTube commenter.

I really feel like you have to see a video to understand, so I posted a YouTube link below to a short clip for anyone who is interested. It gets me emotionally every time haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlf68X2qEpM