2nd Edition

Marina Abramović

By Mary Richards Copyright 2019
    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    192 Pages
    by Routledge

    Marina Abramović is the creator of pioneering performance art which transcends the form’s provocative origins. Her visceral and extreme performances have tested the limits of both body and mind, communicating with audiences worldwide on a personal and political level. Updated and revised throughout, the book combines:

    • a biography, setting out the contexts of Abramović’s work
    • an examination of the artist through her writings, interviews and influences
    • a detailed analysis of her work, including studies of the Rhythm series, Nightsea Crossing and 512 Hours
    • practical explorations of the performances and their origins.

     

    As a first step towards critical understanding, and as an initial exploration before going on to further, primary research, Routledge Performance Practitioners offer unbeatable value for today’s student.

    List of Figures

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    1. BIOGRAPHY AND CONTEXT
    2. Beginnings in the Balkans

      Revolutionary Fervour

      Risk

      Relations and Relationships

      Transition

      "Cleaning the House"

      Continuity

      Origins and authenticity

    3. WRITINGS, INTERVIEWS AND INFLUENCES
    4. Defining moments and early discoveries

      Global perspective / nomadic outlook

      Conditions for creativity

      East West

      Desert as source

      "Transitory Objects" and spectator interactivity

      Cage and Klein

      Documentation

      The mind’s potential

      Trance states and experiences of time

      Space and place

      Creative contradictions

      Video works

      Extended receptivity

      Return to the Balkans

      Spiritual energy

    5. KEY WORKS
    6. Early works up to 1975

      Rhythm series

      Collaborative period (1975-1988)

      Nightsea Crossing and The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk

      1988 to the 2008

      Balkan Baroque and The House with the Ocean View

      2008-2018

      The Artist is Present, 512 Hours and The Cleaner

    7. PRACTICAL EXPLORATIONS AND THEIR ORIGINS

    Body Conditioning

    Sensory Awareness and receptivity

    Memory and Re-membering

    GLOSSARY

    INDEX

    BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Biography

    Mary Richards is a Reader at Brunel University London, UK. She has written a number of papers and journal articles on performance and live art practices.