Marina Abramovic, born 30th November 1946. Became a visual artist within the performance art industry.

Marina Abramovic

Yesterday, in my Solo Performance class, a discussion arose regarding Abramovic. Is she really an artist performer?

Abramovic has been known for her shocking performances, such as Rhythm 10 (1973), where she took twenty knives and played rhythm roulette to Rhythm 0 (1974), where Abramovic stood in a room which had seventy-two objects that could induce pain or pleasure, and told the audience to choose.

This is where the discussion started to heat up. The question, is Abramovic’s work really art?

My argument was that yes, it was and still is. She uses her body as a piece of art. She pushes her art to the extreme which, understandably questions the artists works, but just because she is extreme doesn’t mean it is not art. For example, Rhythm 0. Abramovic stood in the room where the audience were participants. There was no influence for the audience to inflict pain, as they could of easily chose one of the seventy-two objects that didn’t inflict pain, however eighty percent of the audience chose to harm Abramovic. With no influence, they were becoming the extremist. Abramovic was the art and the audience the artist. This questions, is her work really extreme or are the audience the ones who push to the extreme.

You could also say that the real artwork of Abramovic is the discussion after her extreme performances. Years, even decades have passed and we are still discussing her work, and in my opinion, we still should.