I was soooo excited when I saw ‘Art Vital’ exhibition was being set up in town. Duo Ulay/Abramović has been my companion or rather partner-in-crime for so many years when I was writing my undergrad thesis in performance art. I was researching the differences between performance art on the streets and street theatre and their pieces were so connected to that. They were merging art with life and erasing boundaries between art, spectators and pure consciousness. I was very immersed in their artworks, studying them in great detail, however my text in front of you will stray away from detailing and explaining the pieces, but will illumnate my own thoughts on them that matured not only during the years, but also during my walk through the exhibition.
We could say Marina Abramović is one of the most known contemporary artists, not just for her work, but (I also have to mention) for many devilish conspiracy theories going around at the moment. Frank Uwe Laysiepen aka Ulay has been a big part of my life as well. I will always remember getting a task of transcribing his live interviews and also reviewing his book ‘Whispers’, getting to know him so intimately I could swear he was a part of my family.. That’s also why I was so excited to see this exhibition, because I knew it will bring back so many nice memories of my previous life, a leap in time backwards – but oh, I could never have expected what I actually got out of it..
The exhibition is set in Ljubljana in Cukrarna, a transformed sugar refinery that now houses contemporary art gallery. It is a huge structure and they could not have chosen a more perfect place to present ‘Art Vital’ – the monumentality of the building and its rooms corresponds to the monumentality of the artworks, not just in a literal, but also in metaphorical way, giving them even more power.
In 1988 the duo made a huge impact with their last piece ‘The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk’, which concluded their partnership. And what a way to do it! They literally walked the entire length of the Great Wall of China. It took them 90 days, walking one towards the other (one started at the eastern edge and the other at the western), showing endurance and a big measure of trust that they will actually be able to meet in the middle. Walking as an art form actually hiding so many nuances of each step made, not just on the outside but mainly inner worldly. How does it make you feel knowing you are walking towards your inevitable end? Walking towards each other as lovers, but knowing the last step will only bring heart break? For them that was the end of an era, the end of their life in a way. Made me think about people walking in front of the firing squad, or the last steps towards the electric chair.. Of course, there is no comparisson between these things, however, the end of their walk was in some respects their metaphorical death.
As I said before, I won’t be writing about the artworks and the exhibition in a way I usually do, but will go into my feelings and want to point out again how differently I have experienced everything now at this point in my life, than when I was researching it so many years ago.
We are always coming back to the question of what art really is. And I will always be saying that it is something that makes you feel something, that gives you some emotions, that makes you think – art is that powerful thing that wakes you up. No matter if it is ‘traditional’ visual art, conceptual art, performance art, it will always be art – because life is art. And that really is the beauty of it. If we go deeper and connect it to the gossip about Marina and devil worship etc etc.. Hey, whatever, devil, demons, people, we are still here and doing the best we can, even if all this is around us and wants to consume us, as I keep hearing. I don’t know, isn’t the biggest devil in all of this capitalism and consumerism? Everything and everyone is just putting a mirror in front of us, not indocrinating us with anything, because at the end of the day we have our own mind and we can do whatever we want with it. Noone has the actual power over us, no matter how much they want you to believe that. You are the one and only with that power..
The more I have been walking around the gallery, the more I felt their exploration into life itself, endurance, performative consciousness and your own freaking mind, so what they are actually showing is that you can do whatever the hell you want, because you are your own person, you can transform your life into whatever you wish (like Marina and Ulay tranformed their lives into an ongoing performance). They are showing us the path towards ourselves through their own life paths.
In 1976 the duo decided to live and work together in a van, traveling around Europe. This was when they wrote the ‘Art Vital Manifesto’, the text that captures their philosophy of art and life:
NO FIXED LIVING PLACE, PERMANENT MOVEMENT, DIRECT CONTACT, LOCAL RELATION, SELF-SELECTION, PASSING LIMITATIONS, TAKING RISKS, MOBILE ENERGY, NO REHEARSAL, NO PREDICTED END, NO REPETITION, EXTENDED VULNERABILITY, EXPOSURE TO CHANCE, PRIMARY REACTIONS
These words hit me like a hurricane. You do see all of that in their work. But you also see all of that in your every day life, don’t you? Such normal, ordinary and familiar words, yet when put together in front of you like that, kaboooooom!
When the two artists were playing with pushing the boundaries of their bodies and what bodies (and minds) are capable of, they were showing us what we can endure as people and that we do have the power and to believe in ourselves. And again, this is one of my interpretations at the moment of writing this. I have never thought about their works this way before, at least not that intensely. I mean sure, endurance, power, etc. But have never felt it so deeply connected to the human race – maybe it really is about the circumstances surrounding us and seeing more of what is actually important in the world. And that is what art does to you, every single moment in life you could see the same artwork, but through completely different eyes, which is for me the main exquisitness of experiencing art fully.
‘The assertion of self, joy, curiosity.’ ‘To be affected by something and to withstand it.’ are their own words from their diaries (so neatly exhibited for everyone to grab) that literally jumped out when I was sifting through the pages. One can produce so many parallels with the world. Marina and Ulay have always been seen as these ethereal creatures in ethereal spaces doing ethereal work, but they are real and what they are showing us is real – they are showing us to live the life (with the power each of us has 😉)!
Visiting this exhibition just gave me a brain splash in the best possible way, it has awaken my consciousness, I somehow see everything with completely different eyes than before. The moment I realized that I was sitting barefoot on the floor in the middle of the gallery with one of Ulay’s sketchbooks in my hand and the pages opened on the words: ‘Nirvana is the only thing which does not arise as the effect of the cause … what you feel is what you see.’ Goosebumps all the way.. Ok, I admit, there might be some outerworldly magical practices imbedded in their work. Or they are just plain humans broadening our mind. Because everyone has the power and they might just be showing us the way. It is on you to listen or not listen. Yes, I am teasing a bit..
Sitting there I started thinking about myself, the next year, what do I want to do, where do I want to go, who do I want to be. Probably me visiting the gallery just before new year’s also played a big role in my thinking about everything this way – this is definitely the time of looking back into the past year and making plans for the upcoming one, shaping our path forward. The visit to the gallery was not just seeing art, but an empowering exploration into myself. It gave me a push forward into looking what I actually want. And I just love when these pushes come at the most unexpected places. That’s why I always encourage everyone to keep experiencing things (especially the ones out of their comfort zones) and keeping their eyes, ears and mind open. You never know when it visits you.
The more I was walking around, the more I felt connected to the duo. The more I read, the more I saw into them. In Ulay’s words: ‘In search for authenticity, in search for my intuition to become intelligent, to awaken, to survive by primary means, in quest for understanding.’ I have to say, his diaries were a god-send. I could just sit on the floor and read and read and read. His words, especially the diaries from the time of the ‘Great Walk’, searching for himself, knowing the end is coming, his impressions and expressions are so eye-opening. A deep dive into what he was looking at and for, what he was feeling, what he gained – he showed us all that through the walk, but unfortunatelly all of this could not be fully seen if not read. Loving the possibility to dive into his words while looking at the performances and experience them on a totally different level.
And now the fun part begins. More and more I have been noticing the parallels in their art pieces and in the life we are living. I have started seeing their performances in a completely different light even more.
‘The Relation in Time’ (1977) was a performance they did as a couple, sitting still and in silence, only their hair knoted together. First without any public for 16 hours and then they continued for another hour when the spectators came in. Does that remind you of something? Maybe of all the life you have been living and work you have been doing, but noone has seen anything, just a little glimpse maybe was shown and actually seen? Or doing your inner work versus what other people see? Or or or, I could go on forever..
Or the performance ‘Work Relation’ (1978) where they were transporting heavy stones in buckets back and forth in the room with no result. And then doing the performance again, inviting the public to join them in transporting the stones, doing the work with them, with no result. Oh, what an allegory of life, isn’t it?
It actually shook me how powerful their performances actually are, looking so meaningless to the outside eye.
‘6WF’ (1981) was a performance where for 6 hours Ulay was listening to the radio on the headphones and Marina was sitting opposite him. He was humming and singing everything he was hearing and she was just looking at him, listening to his voice motionless. Like, what does this remind you of??
In ‘Brink’ (1979) Ulay was walking along on the top of the wall and Marina was simultaneously walking along the shadow line of the wall on the ground, up and down for almost 5 hours, until the sunlight difused the shadow line. If you read about this piece, it is explained as: ‘A durational performance that explores themes of proximity, distance and the limits of the human body and relationship.’ Which is definitely true and these themes are seen throughout all of their artworks, but walking endlessly throughout life until something disperses or dilutes the light and everything disappears? Mhm…
Or ‘The Witnessing’ (1981) where Ulay was sitting on the floor motionless in the church and Marina was standing close to him on piedestal, pointing at him for a few hours until it became dark outside. Yeah? You see it now? One has to move in life for something to happen and not wait to remove yourself when everything goes pitch black (or unmetaphorically dies).
In performance ‘Similarity’ (1976) Ulay sowed his mouth shut and Marina was speaking for him, one of the questions she got from the public was: ‘Does he feel pain?’ And she answered: ‘There is no answer to such a question. It is not about pain, it is about decision.’ Waaawaaa weeewaaaaaaa
And even the performances ‘Nightsea Crossing’ where they sat motionless and silent for hours and days, with time as a medium. So, coming back to what is art? Art is life, because time is life.
But my most favourite work has been ‘Expansion in Space’ (1977) where they were both just bumping into the wall.. Let me just leave this here…
So…
Art is a gift. Art is easy. And what is life?
Feeling very philosophical as I am writing this. But when I stepped into the building something just clicked inside of me and something opened – I admit for the last few months I have been very deep into the rabbit holes of various conspiracy theories and seeing these artworks somehow made me see clearly where I am and what I am doing and put some things into perspective – definitely bumped me on the head to stay away from the internet for some time hahaha
Research adventureS of a curator 