Marina Abramović

The Abramović Method

March - June 2012
PAC - Contemporary Art Pavilion, Milan, Italy

The Abramović Method is born out of reflections developed by Marina Abramović on the basis of her performances, The House With the Ocean View (2002), Seven Easy Pieces (2005) and The Artist is Present (2010), experiences that have left a deep imprint on her perception of her work in relation to the public.

 The works are are built with different minerals embedded within their structures– quartz, amethyst turmaline  – with which the public will have the opportunity to interact, standing, sitting or lying down. These objects present a physical and mental pathway that transforms the spaces of PAC into an experience made up of darkness and light, absence and presence, and altered perceptions of space and time. Through this pathway, people are offered the chance to expand their senses, to observe, and to learn to listen, both to others and to themselves.

In order to emphasize the ambivalent role of observer and observed, actor and spectator, Marina Abramović has chosen to put the public to the test also in the apparently simple action of observation at a distance, providing a series of telescopes, for visitors to look at the macro and micro point of views of those who decide to tackle the interactive installations. This method is born out of awareness that the act of performance is capable of bringing about a radical transformation both in the performer and in the public. Marina Abramović calls upon the actor and spectators to stop and experience the “here and now” of what regards them first and foremost: themselves and their way of relating to their surrounding world.

A selection of previous works helped Visitors attain a deeper understanding of the Abramović method. From Dozing Consciousness (1997) to Homage to Saint Therese (2009), her wors are based on the same principles and the same untiring pursuit of an “energetic” expansion of perception capable of combining age-old wisdom and traditions with contemporary reality.