Walk Through Walls: A Memoir by Marina Abramović (2016)
I suspect most will, like me, come to this illuminating book through the publicity surrounding Marina Abramović’s recent works of performance art like The Artist Is Present at MoMa New York (March 14 – May 31, 2010) and ‘512 Days’ at Serpentine Gallery, London in 2014 or through the numerous fascinating video interviews and talks to be found on You Tube.
These show her to be powerful woman who is both strikingly beautiful and rivetingly charismatic. It becomes clear after seeing and hearing her how she can so fully captivate audiences and inspire adulation. Through the force of her personality and strong physical presence she comes over like a cross like a dominatrix or femme fatale yet also exudes warmth, humor and compassion.
The memoir – ghostwritten by James Kaplan based on extensive interviews – reveals her as an all or nothing character for whom nothing short of total committment is good enough.
Although she is now financially secure and famous, this was not always the case particularly in the early years when she was openly ridiculed or denounced.
Facing risks, taking chances and working far beyond the comfort zone have always been more important motivations than the pursuit of wealth. This is why you believe her implicitly when she says: “I’m only interested in an art which can change the ideology of society”.
Unless she is directly confronting her demons the work feels false and superficial. She confesses : “When it comes to doing risky things, I don’t care. I just go for it” and specializes in “long-duration pieces” that require vast reserves of physical and mental energy. “To achieve a goal, you have to give everything until you have nothing left. I give every single gram of energy, and then things either happen or they don’t. This is why I don’t care about criticism”.
Marina Abramović, Rhythm 5 (1974) ©Marina Abramović/Bildupphovsrätt 2017. Photo ©Nebojsa Cankovic,
Frequently she will deliberately put herself in a position of great danger such as staring down a live snake, lying inside burning star, doing harm to herself and giving audiences the opportunity to harm her.
A high level of interaction with the public is an essential component of her work. Her art has no material form so exists in real time and stands or falls on how much it attracts, moves and shocks the viewers and/or participants: “The essence of performance is that the audience and the performer make the piece together”.
Although her work requires great self belief and a large degree of what many would dismiss as exhibitionism, the crucial elements of her performances are authenticity and a disarming honestly.
Her parents were communist partisans in Yugoslavia and while Martina received material comforts they showed her no tenderness or physical affection, believing that to do so would be to make her soft. Her mother was present but too much so and her father’s absence was a source of regret. Their turbulent marriage ended when she was young but they played crucial roles in the formation of her character .
Lacking any open expression of love, it is perhaps not surprising that Abramović never wanted children of her own and that her own intimate relationships have been intense and have ended in bitterness. She is brutally frank about the reasons why her two marriages with Nesa (5 years) and Paolo Canavari (12 years) floundered.
With Ulay at The Artist Is Present
The 12 year working and sexual relationship with the German conceptual artist Ulay (Frank Uve Laysiepen) is easily the most significant as far as her career is concerned. The two collaborated on a series of radical pieces following their Art Vital manifesto: “No fixed living space, permanent movement, direct contact, local relation, self-selection, passing limitations, taking risks, mobile energy”. The drama of their joint work, frequently performed in the nude, centers on exploring the fine line between alienating violence and physical closeness.
In all her performances it is as if she is constantly testing how much her body can endure. That she has succeeded, and survived, proves how tough and resilient she is and yet also shows her vulnerability: “I’ve finally learned to expose what I’m most ashamed of” she says.
By publicly expressing her pains and fears she is effectively inviting/ daring us to find our own form of catharsis. As she writes in the introduction: “I hope that this book is inspirational and teaches everyone that there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome if you have the will and love for what you do”.
Abramović is now at a point in her life when she is concerned to pass on her knowledge and experience to a new generation of performance artists or for those who are looking for techniques to break through real or imagined boundaries in their lives. Lady Gaga has been one of her high profile students but she does not actively seek out celebrity clients.
This memoir is part of this process of sharing her wisdom and her workshops are spaces in which she directly teaches what she calls the Abramović Method, the core of which involves training the body and mind to function like an efficient machine. This involves signing yourself up for a demanding process of “endurance, concentration, perception, self-control, willpower, and confrontation with mental and physical limits”.
Now in her 70s, Abramović is conscious that she has entered the final chapter of a truly amazing life. As with the other challenges, she accepts this with forbearance and courage: “I think it’s crucial to include death in your life, to think about death every single day”.
She has already planned her funeral to be a grand event and has asked Antony Hegarty (Anohni) to perform ‘My Way’ in the style of Nina Simone. Fortunately, with a retrospective at London’s Royal Academy scheduled for 2020 together with an opera in Munich, this final performance still seems to be some way off.
