OPEN POST: Dark Art for an October Wednesday: Artist Allowed People to Whatever They Wanted To Her Body For 6 Hours
 |
Performance Art is not easy, nor is it liked or understood by scores of people because it can seem like a stunt, which is, in a way, the foundation of performance art. It is supposed to be a confrontational stunt and sometimes it can seem silly or inspire people who don't like art to roll their eyes about "those crazy artsy types". We tend to deride what we don't understand or like, and honestly, art should be for everyone, but not everyone is into art. And that's fine. I don't particularly like football or baseball, but those who love it can wax poetic for hours. For me, art is where I live, so I can do the same, and I enjoy it. Some people roll their eyes at artists, but I roll my eyes at the people who roll their eyes. We could go back and forth until HEY; this could be a Conceptual Art Installation, "Mutual Contempt."
That's okay because once an artist becomes a people-pleaser, you end up with dull landscapes and uninspired yawn-inducing still lives. During Art Theory classes in art school, I was exposed to a lot of Performance Art, and I realized it was not as easy as it looked when it was in its heyday—the 1970s. Women confronted sexism in very uncomfortable ways, which was the point. You were supposed to squirm and then realize in your judgment where those beliefs originated from in the first place. These are not Monet's Lillies or Degas' ballerinas; soothing and pleasant, it is for people who enjoy punk a bit more than Vivaldi. I happen to like both.
But I am very judgy about Performance Art because nowadays it can be so derivative and embarrassingly contrived. Then I roll my eyes and feel totally justified in doing it; whether true or not, I stand with the derisive.
Which leads me here:
Rhythm 0 was a terrifying performance in which a Serbian artist, Marina Abramović, placed 72 objects on a table.
She stood passively while a note told people they could do whatever they wanted to her with zero repercussions. The instructions for the performance said, "There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.
"Performance. I am the object...During this period, I take full responsibility."
Abramović shared that while the audience was tentative and nervous at first, as the performance continued, things became increasingly dark. She said about the performance: "In the beginning, the public played with me a lot. Later on, it became more and more aggressive.
"It was six hours of genuine horror. They would cut my clothes. They will cut me with a knife close to my neck, drink my blood, and then put the plaster over the wound. They will carry me around, half-naked, put me on the table, and stick the knife between my legs into the wood."
Two of the objects were a gun and a bullet, and Abramović recalled that one person had even put the bullet in the gun and aimed it at her. The artist described how the person had tested to see if she would resist them, making her pull the trigger. (pic a little too disturbing to share)
After six hours, the performance was over, with Abramović describing what happened next. "I start being by myself and start walking through the audience naked and with blood and tears in my eyes, everybody ran away, literally ran out of the door."
The piece aimed to show how humans can act when we remove agency from someone else. To me, true horror is what human beings are capable of doing to each other. Remove consequences, and who knows what someone who isn't empathetic or remorseful would do? Man scares me more than anything else, and for Halloween, why not just go as some guy in Deliverance-inspired clothing throwing menacing looks at everyone or, even better, a man in a corporate suit with a smile? Either/or they are both scary af.
Here is a cute puppy:
Comments
Post a Comment