Alex Alvis Art

Marina Abramović-Her Body as Medium and Subject

As you know, if you read the blog yesterday, we are learning about each artist who was in the  WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution show in 2007...in alphabetical order.

I am going through the whole list systematically because, otherwise, I may just talk about a few of the artists if I allowed myself to just choose the artists I think I like most.

No good.  Because, I have found that once I begin to research the artists I find them all very interesting, and this opens my mind to them more and I learn other things along the way too.  

Certainly, the curators of the show included each of these artists because they felt their contribution to the history of feminist art was significant.  And, as Fran Smith says in her article in Edutopia;  Why Arts Education Is Crucial, and Who's Doing It Best:

A 2005 report by the Rand Corporation about the visual arts argues that the intrinsic pleasures and stimulation of the art experience do more than sweeten an individual's life -- according to the report, they "can connect people more deeply to the world and open them to new ways of seeing," creating the foundation to forge social bonds and community cohesion. 

So, in the interest of creating the foundation to forge social bonds and community cohesion we are going to talk about Marina Abramović today.

Dozing Consciousness (c) Marina Abramovic

Marian was one of the first people to use performance as a visual art form.  You may ask, don't all actors do this?  Not in this way.  Marina Abramović uses her body as her medium and subject to explore her physical and emotional limits.

One of her first installations was the use of her hand and several knives where she recorded the sounds she emitted each time she cut herself and then switched to another knife.  Sound pretty weird?

Rhythm 10 (c) Marina Abramovic

Marina Abramovic’ and Ulay, Relation in Time. Originally performed at 1977 for 17 hours at Studio G7, Bologna. Still from 16 mm film transferred to video (black and white, sound), 50:33 min. (c) 2010 Marina Abramovic. Courtesy the Artist and Sean Kelly Gallery/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

“What I’m doing is inventing events that I am afraid of. I go in front of the public and, if I can do it, they can do it, too. That’s why performance art – if it’s good – can be a life-changing experience.”

She pauses. “This is the function of an artist. I am not a therapist. I am not a spiritual leader. These elements are in the art: it is therapeutic, spiritual, social and political – everything. It has many layers. But art has to have many layers. If it doesn’t, then forget it.”

Balkan Baroque (c) 2010 Marina Abramovic

Well.  I agree with that...art has to have many layers.

In case you are taking Marina's artworks too seriously, a visit to this site - created by Scott Indrisek-may just take care of that :) - pretty funny!

Hope you experience many layered art today for yourself.

'Til tomorrow!

~Alex