Marina Abramović is slated to have a busy spring. The artist will lead a
large-scale performance project at the Benaki Museum in Athens
beginning March 10.
Athens-based non-profit arts organization NEON,
Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), and Abramović herself will join
forces in a program of “Performance and Immaterial Art" at the museum.
“NEON-MAI Lab" will run in tandem with a second program of events also
at the museum, which uses the Abramović Method to engage viewers, who
quickly become participants.
“We live in a world of constant distraction,
where taking the time to connect to ourselves is becoming more and more
difficult," said Abramović of the project. "I have designed this
experience to give the public the opportunity to be free from these
distractions and to be connected with themselves, with each other, and
with the present moment. Never has this been more relevant, than in
Greece in these trying times."
"We are all working around
the clock to produce an amazing experience for the audience," NEON's
director Elina Kountouri told artnet News. She explained that "Abramović
and her team" trained a group Greek performance artists in the
Abramović Method. As a result, "the whole building at the Benaki Museum
will be transformed into a vivid performance space where people examine
human boundaries, strength and possibly trust."
Kountouri feels the collaboration is a natural one. "Our aim with NEON is
to bring contemporary culture closer to the general public, not only
the connoisseurs, and support and present the potential of Greek
creativity."
NEON-MAI Lab will consist of Abramović herself
working with the handpicked emerging artists on the principles of her
artistic method. Developed over 40 years of practice, the series of
exercises that make up the Abramović Method are designed to push the
boundaries of the body and mind. The resulting work is intended to blur
the line between the public and the art being created.
Abramović has had her hands full in recent months while in legal dispute with ex-husband Ulay and penning her autobiography, so this project may provide a welcome artistic outlet for the artist.
AS ONE opens its doors to the public on
Thursday, 10 March 2016, and will run for seven weeks. On Thursday
evening, at 20:15, Marina Abramović and NEON founder Dimitris
Daskalopoulos will give speeches to mark the opening of the project.
From 12 noon on Thursday, AS ONE will be in full swing, with
performances (long-durational and interventions), the Abramović Method,
screenings, and the Mutual Wave Machine. Join us at AS ONE at the Benaki
Museum on Pireos Street, six days a week (Tues.-Wed.-Thurs.-Sat.:
12:00-20:00 | Fri.: 12:00-22:00 | Sun.: 10:00-18:00 | Mon.: closed),
from 10 March until 24 April 2016. Our changing programme of
performances, lectures, talks, workshops and screenings, with their many
different topics and participants, means you can visit again and again,
and always see something new. Entrance is free for everyone.
Credits: https://news.artnet.com
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