Marina Abramovic: A Deep Dive into Performance Art and Theater

This report delves into the world of Marina Abramovic, a pioneering performance artist whose work has significantly impacted theater and art history. The report explores Abramovic's unique approach to performance art, including her use of body art, endurance art, and feminist art, and her focus on the relationship between the performer and the audience. It examines how the social and political climate of the late 20th century influenced her art, and how her work challenged traditional notions of art and theater by incorporating audience participation and exploring themes of pain, endurance, and the limits of the human body. The report highlights specific works like the 'Rhythm series' and 'The Artist is Present,' analyzing their impact on audiences and theater professionals. It also discusses the challenges Abramovic faced, including criticisms and ethical dilemmas, and her lasting contributions to theater practices, emphasizing her role in revolutionizing performance art and inspiring contemporary artists. The report also includes the text of a speech that highlights Marina's performance art.

Running head: THEATER
Theater
-Marina Abramovic the Performance Artist
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Position Brochure:
Introduction
Marina Abramovic is a performance artist, art film director, writer and producer from
Serbia and her specializations in performance art includes body art, feminist art and
endurance art and explores the relation between the audiences and performer as well as the
limits of endurance of a body and mind. Marina has been an artist for more than 40 years and
is often referred to as the ‘Grandmother of performance art’ (Abramovic). She was a pioneer
of a new style of performance art which focuses on observer’s participation, confrontation of
pain and bodily discomfort, blood and body’s physical limits (Eades, pp279-284; Balkin, pp
94-111).
Marina Abranovic had a significant impact on performance arts, influencing several
artists and creating a new revolution in the art. Her art was not only reflected on the social
and political climate of her time, it also connected with the audiences in a completely new
way and influenced the history and practices in theater art and performance art.
-How did the social and political climate of the time influence the subject of the research?
By the end of 1960’s there was a growing interest in the concept of using body as as
art in which both male and female artists utilized the idea of ‘isolated physical self’. The
artists using such form of art and artistic expression would often place themselves to
distressing and risky situations and actions through which they intended to shock and awe the
audience. The idea of this approach or style of art was to challenge how big meuseums and
art galleries were commodifying art for the sake of business (Cronholm, pp62-66). The era
was also marked by an era of sociopolitical activism which significantly influenced artists
such as Marina Abramovic, Yoko Ono, Vito Acconi and Carolee Schneemann. These artists

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used the physical presence of a body as an art and to shock the audiences or viewers, bringing
them out of the tradition passive role (Simões, pp 1329).
-What impact did the subject of the research have on audiences or the theater professionals
that they served?
Using the medium of a body as a a tool of performance art aimed to acknowledge as
well as reflect upon the social issues os otherness, race and sexuality. Marina’s art not only
made the viewers or audiences to become more actively involved in the art, but alao allowed
the art to be responsive the the presence and the actions of the audiences (Paterson). Marina’s
art not only rejected the idea of authorship and regularity as well as commodification of art
but also changed how theater professionals saw towards performance art, she also pioneered
the idea of using performance as a form of visual art, created the idea of using the body and
duration as a way to test the physical and mental limits of the artist. Her works such as the
‘Rhythm series” (1973 to 1974), Lips of Thomas (1975) shows the usage of a long time
duration that pushed the limits of the artist and also challenged the passivity of the viewers
and tested their own confort levels tom watch the artist suffer in the performance (Smyth, pp
19).
The impact of her art has also been acknowledged by the Greek President, Alexis
Tsipras, who suggested that Marina’s method of relying on extensive eye contact and
heightened self awareness to be an effective strategy in both theaters as well as in politics and
can be an effective strategy to bring about a political change (Johnson, pp 1-13).
-What was the mission statement of the research subject?
Marina was influenced by the idea of making the art a real experience, unique the
theater and making the audience a more active participant in the performance (Marcus, pp 21-
52).

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-What challenges and adversities did/does the subject of the research face in pursuit of
their goals?
In the pursuit of her goal to de-commodify art and make the audiences more actively
involved in the performance (Rea; Welsh). This attempt to revolutionize performance art
attracted a lot of criticisms against Marina. Several allegations were made against Marina of
being associated with occultist and satanic cults. Marina also faced dilemmas regarding the
moral and ethical underpinnings of her performances, as her art toughed several sensitive
subjects such as gender equality, hunger and poverty and risking the health and wellbeing of
the artists in the performance (Hynes, pp 805-820).
-Contributions of the research subject to theater history or to theater practices today 80
Marina Abramovic completely revolutionized the history and practices of theaters,
bringing them out of a rigid framework and replacing them with a more dynamic and
responsive environment in the form of active participation of the audiences (Rizzo).
Performance art before Marina did not emphasize on the role of the audiences in the art and
mostly considered them as passive participants (Carey). Marina’s artistic ideas provided the
audiences and viewers are more integral role in the performance, creating an unique
experience each time due to the dynamic way in which the artists and viewers interact
(Bleuler, pp 131-145).
Her performance at the Museum of Modern Art (NoMA), New York City in 2010,
titled ‘The Artist is presented” had an immense impact on current practices of theater and
performance art, influencing several artists and actors and how they performed. Her
performance styles also increased focus on self awareness and stretching the limits of
endurance of the actors, being seated or positioned at uncomfortable postures for a long time,

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also inflicted injuries on self to shock the audience. Such ideas were not traditionally
considered as a form of art soon became a new art form due to the influence of Marina.
Artists such as Lady Gaga, James Franco and Jay Z have cited marina as their key influences
(Jonsson; Hynes, pp 805-820).
Conclusion
Marina Abramovic brought about a new revolution in performance art and her style
made audiences a more actively involved participant in the performance. Her influence and
impact on performance art gave gained her the title of being the ‘grandmother of performance
art’. She was not only able to de-commodify art, but also made performance art more
dynamic and responsive to the environment, thereby stepping away from the traditional
notions of performance art and has influenced several artists.

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Speech: Marina’s performance has revolutionized performance art:
The concepts of performance art started with the 1960’s and 70 are which included a
variety of aspects such as body art, actions and events and the advent of the guerilla theatre.
Marina Abramovic had one of the most significant impact on the concepts and practice of
performance art, creating a new art revolution that departed from the contemporary and
traditional ideas of art under the patronage of big museums and art galleries. Marina’s art
created a new form of art in which the audiences formed an important part of. In her art, the
artists and audiences actually interacts with each other, creating a dynamic environment
where virtually anything can happen, including intentional injuries to the artists, in an attempt
to test and extend the limits of endurance of the artists and heighten the levels of self
awareness.
Her performance in the New York Museum of Modern Art in 2010, which was titled
‘The Artist is present’, marina was seated for a total duration of 736 hours and 30 minutes in
complete silence in the atrium of the museum with various audiences taking up a seat
opposite to her while maintaining eye contact with her. Her performance completely changed
how everyone saw performance art as, and incited a re-energized passion towards
performance art among the audiences. By the end of her performance, a large crowd of
audiences were already in line to secure a spot with Marina and being a part of her
performance.
Her performance with Uwe Laysiepen (better known as Ulay) in 1976 in Amsterdam,
is probably considered to be a milestone in performance art, in which the duo experimented
and explored the ideas of ego and artistic identity, creating several ‘relation works’ which
involved series of movements and change as a process of creating an art form and
collaborated art. The performance in itself also extended beyond the perimeters of the venue

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and could be reflected on the mindsets of the artists who started to refer to themselves as ‘The
Other’, and considered themselves as a ‘Two headed Body’, exploring concepts of
hermaphroditic state as a form of feminist movement. This further challenged the ideas of
gender construct and gender identity, especially in art and blurred the lines that differentiate
gender in performance art. The duo dressed and behaved like twins, creating a new
relationship that is based on trust and developing a phantom identity that combined and
represented the artistic ideas of both the artists, in an amalgamated way, giving birth to a new
form of performance art. Instead of concerning themselves with gender ideologies, the duo
set to deconstruct gender identities through the development of a hermaphroditic identity.
Reflections of such artistry can be clearly seen in the performance of several artists such as
David Bowie, Marilyn Manson and Lady Gaga.
Marina Abramovic’s art and performance tested the physical limits of the body of the
artist, exploring the psychic energies, non verbal communication, transcendental meditation
and principles of gender through performance. She also considered that the body is the unit of
an individual and the performances as an extension of the self and one’s perceptions. Her
famous performance, Titled ‘Lovers’ in 1988 showed how the performance can be of extreme
personal nature, as she and her lover Ulay performed the end of their relation. In the
performance, Marina and Ulay walked across the Great Wall of China from opposite ends,
walking almost 2500 kilometers to reach the center to bid each other farewell. The
performance did not only create a sensation in performance art, but also showed how such an
art can be created from unique and extremely personal experiences and actions.
Marina’s art also transgressed time and created a continuity of feelings and thoughts
by later performances that followed up her earlier performances. In the performance in 2010
in New York, one of the audiences was Ulay, who took a turn to sit opposite to her. The
emotional intensity of the scene was almost palpable, and Marina’s expression after seeing

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Ulay after several decades was nothing less than phenomenal in its own right, and made the
video viral across the world. This performance not only helped to create a sense of continuity
to her previous performance on the Great Wall of China in 1988. The performance further
expounded upon the personal nature of art and how it related to the personal experiences of
the artist. Such an emotional connection virtually transgresses the boundary that existed
between the performer and the audience, and allows the audience to experience that raw
emotion being felt by the Artist. This highly experimental performance explores and extends
the path towards a more open as well as a productive relation between the artists with the
public.
Marina’s love for performance art was also deeply influenced by her haltered of the
theaters as she considered Theaters to be ‘fake’ as the knives, the blood and even the
emotions were not real, while performance is a real thing, involving real knives, real blood
and real emotions, creating what Marina termed as ‘True Reality’. Marina was even ready to
endure great physical and emotional costs, placing herself in danger of injuries and even
death, in order to maintain the reality of the performance. This also greatly increased the risks
of accidents and physical injury, such as the burns to the body and head she received in a
performance where she was laying inside a huge flaming star made of petrol soaked sawdust
or stab wounds she self inflicted on her hands, as she sliced her skin with a razor blade in
another of her performances. This is an aspect marina always tried to maintain through her
performance art, and have influenced numerous performance artists later. Signs of her artistic
influence could even be seen in some extreme forms of punk and metal music, with Punk
artists such as GG Allin and Skinny Puppy or Metal bands such as Dissection, Mayhem and
Emperor inflicting self injuries on the stage, stabbing or even mutilating themselves with barb
wires or knives to shock the audiences. Such attributes clearly shows the extent of influence
of Marina on performance art in general.

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References:
Abramovic, Marina, et al. Marina Abramovic. Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2017.
Balkin, Sarah, and Sandra D’Urso. "“My relationship to the public is changing”: Marina
Abramović: In Residence." TDR/The Drama Review 61.3 (2017): 94-111.
Bleuler, Marcel. "In Bed with Marina Abramović: Mediatizing Women’s Art as Personal
Drama." The Mediatization of the Artist. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, 2018. 131-145.
Carey, Chanda Laine. Embodying the Sacred: Marina Abramović, Transcultural Aesthetics,
and the Global Geography of Art. Diss. UC San Diego, 2016.
Cronholm, Ellen, Tora Hederus, and Alison Norton. "Quick–Click–Float: A Mounting
System Designed for The Cleaner, a Marina Abramović Exhibition at Moderna Museet."
Journal of Paper Conservation 18.2 (2017): 62-66.
Eades, Quinn, and Anna Poletti. "DystopiAbramović: Marina Abramović: In Residence:
Sydney 2015." a/b: Auto/Biography Studies 33.2 (2018): 279-284.
Hynes, Maria. "Public Sociology for an Emergent People: The Affective Gift in Marina
Abramović's The Artist is Present." The Sociological Review 64.4 (2016): 805-820.
Johnson, Clare. "Waiting for Marina: Generosity and Shared Time in Marina Abramoviæ's
512 Hours." Liminalities 14.4 (2018): 1-13.
Jonsson, Sofia. "The curatorial act: Framing reperformances within Marina Abramović’s—
The Cleaner." (2018).
Marcus, Sharon. "Celebrity 2.0: the case of Marina Abramović." (2015): 21-52.

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Paterson, Laura. A practical exploration of the similarities between Marina Abramovic’s
performance art work process and the techniques within the Japanese martial arts Shotokan
Karate and Judo. Diss. 2018.
Rea, Naomi. "For Frieze Week, Marina Abramović Distills Her Art and Life Into… a
Macaron." Artnet (2017).
Rizzo, Martina. Framing Abramović: a performance artist’s use of body, space and
technology. BS thesis. University of Malta, 2017.
Simões, Lília, and Maria Consuêlo Passos. "The Performance Art of Marina Abramovic as a
Transformational Experience." Psychology 9.06 (2018): 1329.
Smyth, Cherry. "NEON & Marina Abramovic Institute: As One." Art Monthly 396 (2016):
19.
Welsh, Kirstie. An exploration into the collaborative relationship of Marina Abramović and
Ulay as they attempted to achieve their artistic manifesto. Challenging the success of this
through performance analysis and the rise of Abramović as a solo artist. Diss. 2018.

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