In her lifetime, the Grandmother of Performance Art, Marina Abramovic, has legitimized performance as an art form, risen to art world superstardom and made countless people cry. Despite the immensity of her accomplishments, the ambitious artiste is far from satisfied with her artistic impact. Scroll down for more arts news.
According to ArtDaily, Luminato, Toronto's Festival of Arts and Creativity, recently announced that Abramovic will feature a seven-part participatory installation at the festival, dubbed MarinaAbramovicInstitute – Prototype.
The collaborative piece is the largest manifestation of the Marina Abramovic Method to date, a method which aims to cultivate performance as a living archive, constantly documenting and reenacting performance art pieces. For the project, Abramovic invites visitors to join the performance, donning white lab coats and headphones to disconnect themselves from the outside world for two hours. Afterward, the participants are asked to record their experience, focusing on the present while removed from technology.
Jorn Weisbrodt, Artistic Director of Luminato, explained the magnitude of Abramovic's project to ArtDaily: "Even though she is such an auratic performer, she has also established the fact that a work of performance art does not have to die with the performer."
As if Abramovic was not busy enough, this past week the devoted 68-year-old gave a TimesTalk on her upcoming opera "The Life And Death Of Marina Abramovic" two days after stopping by Brian Lehrer's radio show to discuss her new project, "Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze," a performance installation that explores the phenomenon of non-verbal communication.
Listen to the interview with Ms. Abramovic below and let us know what you think of the artist's scientific know-how in the comments.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Marina Abramovic
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David Hockney's Assistant Dies: 23-year old Dominic Elliott, close friend and assistant to the artist, was rushed from Hockney's Bridlington home to the hospital Sunday morning. Police are awaiting details on cause of death. (The Guardian)