Performance Art

Marina Abramovic

Marina Abramovic is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist.

Her work concentrates around the themes of :

Body Art
Endurance Art
Feminist Art
The relationship between performer and audience
Limits of the Body
Possibilities of the mind

Rhythm 0

Rhythm 0 was the final performance in her 'Rhythm' series between 1973-1974. In the 6 hour performance Abramovic allowed herself to be manipulated by the public. She laid out a table full of objects, ranging from food to weapons and allowed the public to do what they wanted to her. At the end of the performance Marina Abramovic had a loaded gun to her head, tears in her eyes, her blouse was pulled open so her breasts were on show and she was bleeding from a head wound.

"THAT WAS THE HEAVIEST PIECE I EVER DID BECAUSE I WASN'T IN CONTROL" -Marina Abramovic

I personally think the whole performance was shocking and insane, there was so much risk involved and so much trust in strangers. It's hard to imagine something like that being allowed to happen in 2021. Even though she claimed it was the hardest piece as she wasn't in control, she did have some sort of control as she had the objects out, she did sort of manipulate what she was allowing people to do to her by offering them weapons so she knew the risks involved. I still can't believe a performance art like that ever happened and it's a hard to envision putting so much trust in strangers with dangerous weapons.

Chris Burden

Chris Burden was an American artist that was known for making some of the most shocking works of the 20th Century. He did Performance art, Sculpture and Installation Art.

Burden's art explores the nature of suffering by setting up extreme situations that he himself has to endure.

A few of his shocking works include:

Spending 5 days and nights in the foetal position inside a locker
Having a spectator push pins in his body
Being 'Crucified to a Volkswagen Beetle
Being kicked down 2 flights of stairs

SHOOT (1971)

For this performance Chris Burden had asked a friend to shoot him with a .22 Rifle from a distance of 15 feet. Originally the bullet was supposed to graze his arm and cause no real harm. However the reality was that his friend miss fired and the bullet went straight through his arm. He was completely fine after the incident and the performance still had the reaction he was after. Burden wanted to shock his viewers as people had become too desensitised to violence and death, due to them being on the news so often. But when it happens right in front of you, like this performance they get shocked.

This performance was a recipe for disaster, no matter how trained a person can be (at anything) human errors can always occur, and I can imagine the amount of pressure his friend felt to not mess up in front of a crowd. The performance is shocking... yes, crazy.... yes and I understand the reason he did it but I still can not wrap my head around putting yourself in so much danger just to shock the public (who will probably still de desensitised to violence and death in our world).

Adrian Piper

Adrian Piper is an American Conceptual artist and Philosopher. Her work addresses how and why those involved in more than one discipline experience Otherness and Racism by using media to provoke self analysis.

THE MYTHIC BEING

The mythic being was a series of black and white photos taken between 1973-75. Piper a light skinned woman of mixed racial heritage would transform herself into 'the mythic being' by wearing an afro wig, sunglasses and a moustache while having what is considered 'masculine mannerisms. Then through video and photography she would capture the reactions of the public.

This idea of hers was very interesting and successful in showing prejudice and racism at the time.

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