fieldsofArt,frompainting

Various tosculpture,
through
Oiverse
movement anddance forms, andpoetry
literature haveused thebody
ina specific
way.They treat thebody asa universal
signthat
unquestionably
allows thehuman senses
tocommunicate transmitting
thoughts,feelings
andaesthetically laden
moods. Clearly,
throughthe
power ofArtwe areable toelicit some deeper
hiddenmeaning which
isexpressed withsimple distinct gestures
andsymbols.Asa matter
offact,weknow thattheemotions expressed
bya dancerdonotneed
tobeaccounted for.Painted faces andsculpted
figures
also speakfor
themselves.lndisputably,
it isonly bymany-sidedexaminations
that
oneisable toencompass theuniversal characte{ffthe{odyandthe
phenomenon
initsdiverse
contexts
and
dimensi0ru\,#*Q,,*_.,,",
l,amconvinced thatthepapers included inthispubliiiatfon,.yvill ma6'*"**
youmore aware ofhuman bodir i'elated issues, ones \iidqiiu
thatwiiltthnzug
w v L r I your
both ,vu r thinking and
L r Ir r r ]r r r 1 6 q research
r t\I ttr asa
o vcttu tt cto result
(l tgOU oft their,&rng
tL V JU U l l l f l ,tE U , .:,'i ,.***. ,
tl l E {;ts.,l {9dl l 5 sunmittbffii':]i,*. :.r,.0...,

byspecialists
fromvarious fields.{-ffip6ffi*th"q*;"'i$dnF6k;nniitu}wil-
academic
Thisobservation
hasallowedmetoexpressmy
onthebroadinterdisciplinary
academicperspective thatfrani'e$'
thefundamental
databeingstudied:
body
universalism. Therefore
I personally
findtheproject
tobeasubstantialcontributiontothe
anthropology
ofculture
deveJopment
onascholarly level.
Prof.Maria
Nowakowska, PhD
-Rector
Vice forResea rch
andlnternational
Relations
thelagietlonian
IJniversity,
Krakdw
"Dance
isdevotion
oflife"... gotmybody
I have l,have :.',,;':.:i:$
fromtheEadh.
gotmylifefromthesunandmoon, I
myparents,
myfriends lour. ";r',ili'.rir
and+ny
Then
I willreturn giftstotheUniverse.
these l willreturn
theni
tootnrn, i,ffi
throughdancing body andsoul.AsI seeatinyflower ,"
selflessly ..,.,,*j,
I meetadance filfedwith"joyoflife".Andthen,mybodyisfilledup ,,L
withwateroflife.Theseeds ofmemory inside
mecorneintobud: ,i
Thesoundofwinds iswhisperingoftheEarth...
I amafragment of, ;i ,,. .. '.:

the0osmos... . ,ii ,ili

Ats nouchi' .Jjnen

ushi Take Bgtoh

l|/m,l/.WUi.pf
, " ,,' !H E iHUMAN
.
:::
BODY.
|
,j :
I

A UNIV ERSAL " :' "

',s-,rGN ,' t,. l

', .:t: j. : ,,.1 ,: I
Towards
Danc e
Anthropology
edit ed by
WieSna
M ond- Koz Lows k a
 ,THE HUMAN Festival
of Anthropology
BODY- of Dance
First edition
A UNTVERSAT 7th- 12',.April 2AA3
Krak6w
PoIand

B RTDGTNG
AK.J.-WI='I-HSCTENCE
A hF

Pa p e rs
Workshogls
Pe rfo rma n c e s

Ja g ie l 1 o n j.a n Un ive r s ity

Pr e ss
 SERIES
.
TowardsDqnceAnthropalogy'?-'
TIIE SCHOLARSHIPCOMMITTEE I !ii:
'r,-,
'] :i
1 'I:1,'I. q
Prof. SondraHorton Fraleigh, USA
Prof RyszardNycz,Poland

This volumewassupportedby the JagiellonianUniversity- CRB"Vfunds and Facultyof Philology

Specialacknowledgements is due to Andrzej Mardyla and PracowniaAA for assuminggenerously

the work of printing the book

EDITOR . ,

l\iesna Mond-Kozlowska :

PHOTOGRAPHS

ZbigniewBakota,photosl,4,5,10,18, 19,21,22,23,24,25,26,2'1,28,31,32'33
photbs
Borusiewicz,
Sebastian 2,3, 6,'l , 8,9, ll, 12, 13,14,15,16,17,20,29,30

COVERDESIGN

Marek Pawlowski

TECHNICAL EDITORS

Dorota Wqgierska
Katarzyna Gorzal6wna
KrystynaOliwa

@Copyriglrtby WiesnaMond-Kozlowska& JagiellonianUniversity

First edition,Krak6w2005
All rightsreserved

No part of this book may be reproduced,translated,Storedin a retrievalsystem,or transmitted,in any

form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,microfilming recording,or otherwise,
without written permissionfrom the Publisher, r

ISBN 83-233-1955-3

www.wuj.pl

WydawnictwoUniwersytetuJagiellorlskiego
Redakcja: ul. Michalowskiego9| 2, 3 1-126Krak6w
tel.(012)631-18-81,631-18-82, fax (012)631-18-83
Dystrybucja:ul. Wroclawska53, 30-01I Krak6w
r:l:: tel. (0 12) 63l -01-97, tel.lfax (0 I 2) 631-0 1-98
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-i.:'i
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i?il
 Contents

Acknowledsements 1l
Preface t3
Introduction l5

PART ONE: PAPERS

GeneralCongress

RodgrykLange,MovementandtheHuman8ody......... 2l
SondraHorton Fraleigh,Morphologyof Butoh.Body withoutBoundaries............... 3l
J62efBremer,Probleriswith the8od,y......... .....:........,...........39
Toslihoru Butoh Dance Method for Psychosomatic Exploration and
.Kasai,
' ' ,In teg r a ti o1'...'......'..:'.....'''.'..'.. 47
AndrzejSzczeklik, Catliarsis,HealingPowerofNatureandArt........."........:i....
.....::. 6L

ParallelSessions

1. PrinciplesUnderlyingHuman Movement

MaaikeBleeker,Who's Looking?The Universalas Sign. 74

Anna Lazou, The Body and the Didnysian Element in Dance and Drama since
Antiquity...
lTiesnaMond-Kozlowska,Kond de Jambepar Terre and en l'air of the Classical
Ballet as an Example of Education through Movement. A Study on Plato's
Metaphysics of Numbers............... 87
Luk VandenDries,TheBody asan Interface.............. 93
JustynaJaniszewska-Krukawska, Body and Object. Key Discoveriesin the Process
of Work with Body andObject.:................. .......................99
AnneliSaro,TheActorasMagician .,................ 1.05
El2bietaKoldrzak,StructuralHierarchyof the Body Movementsin Kathakali........... 1 0 9
Majid LabbafKhaneiki,The History of IranianChoreography .............. 113
TimoKlemola,SomeNoteson the Phenomenology of Breathing 1*'
Jan FranciszekJacko, Semanticsof the Human Body According to Leonardo da
Vinci 129

2. Gendeiand the Human Body

ChristelStalpaert,"Donnez-moidoncun corps": Deleuze'sAestheticsof lntensities

andthe Possibilitiesof Bodily Postrepresentations t40
 Contents

Ewa Bal, PervertedViewer or Author? Spectatorin Fabulain Un chant d'amour by

J.GenetandinSalo,orl20DaysofSodombyP.P.Pasolini...... 153
KingaAnna Gajda,'Women's BodiesAVomen's Identities:FeministPerformance..... I57
Yuko Yuasa.The Self-Awarenessand Self-Identity in the Noh, a Drama of Female
Impersonation by Male Actors................ 163
VeronicaBaxter,PerformingAIDS: SouthAfricanBodies....... 169
Lilianna Dorak, Body and Gender in TadeuszR6zewicz's Dramatic Plays. White
WeddingandOld WomanHatching in Judith Butler's Perspectiveof the Concept
ofBody 173
Julie Campbell,Imprisoning the Body: The RestrictedFemaleBody in Beckett's
Drama L7g
Mateusz Borowski, Masochist Ritual and the Restoration of Identity in Mark
Ravenhill's Shoppingand Fucking andFaust (Is Dead) 185

3. Symbolism of the Human BodY

JeanetteR. Malkin,The JewishBody in Parts:GermanExpressionistTheatre. L92

Magdalena Hasiuk, Face and Mask. The Actor's Transformation in Th6Atre du
Soleil.......
Rfrta Maieikiend, Towards the Expressivity of the Body: Acting in Contemporary \
LithuanianTheatre...... .,..r........!.... .. 203
ThornasRiccio,Body asText. The Story Dancing of the Yup'ik and Inupiat Eskimo 207
AlirezaMajazi Amiri,The Ups andDbwnsof PersianChoreography.,..'..'..'.'. 2II
AnnetteArlander,Perfonning Landscape - a Body in the TVind......... 217
RuthKanner,Body in War.*.....................
Daina VieraitytE, The New Language of the Human Body in Contemporary
LithuanianTheatre...... ..:............... 23r
Linvydas Krivickas, Shakespeare and Performances. "Chemical Theatre".
Transcendingbeyond the Limits of General Approach to Shakespearewith
LithuarrianExpressionoftheMicrocosmandtheMacrocosm 235
Katharina Piechocki, Embodying Power on the,Baroque Opera Stage in Mid-l7th
CenturyFrance....... .................. 241
Michele Cu,omoand RebeccaBourgeois, Fitzmaurice Voiceworki Journals from
PrivateSessions 247
Izabella Pluta-Kizialc,The Use of Metaphors of Corporality in Robert Lepage's
Theatre......:.... . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
:
:
'It
!
1
4. Body-Mind Links
j.:

l
j

:]
Jerri Daboo, "To Know the Self is to Forget the Self': An Exploration of the Body- r
-Mind in Performance............. 258
:
SAbine Sdrgel, "Dancing Postcolonial Politics" - The Function of Kinesthetic
Memory in CaribbeanChoreography ............. 263 ,-
ShannonRoseRiley,EmbodiedVisualization in AuthenticMovement and Butoh...,. zot
Jan M. Bereza,Dancingin Motionlessness.Christianson the Routesof Meditation.. 273
Anna R'Burzyriska,"Dragging out Thoughtsby the Tails" - The Thinking Body
as a Strainin the Work of GeorgBiichner.... 277

.,i: li

:::-'E
Contents

gy ....... 28t
M agd.alenaRembowska-PIuciennik,Poeticsand Anthropolo 285
Ani Bernstein,MarinaAbramoviiandtlie PublicBody"""""

5. The Sacred Body/The Profane Body

- Biblical Womenfs Hand
ShimonLevy, "...and Her Hands on the Threshold" 292
;"""""""""
^ Gestures
Jesus(in the Margin of the
DariuszPioff Klimczak,ThePhenomenonof the Body of 297
PassionPerformanceof Kalwaria)""" " " ""
Mikhail Chek*rov'sRussian
Maria lgnatieya, Profane Body versuqSacredBody: 303
Period.....
Michael Chekhov's Studio
Liisa Byckling,TheHarmony of Body andPsychologyin 309
I Work... """"""""i'
Adrianna Kabza-Biernacka, whispers of w&M Physical Theafre'- sacred and
31s
PublicMYsterY..'.........
in the works by Joris
KazimieraJakacka-Mikulsfta,obsessionswith corporali,tv 32r
sacralisation""""
Karl Huysmans.NaturalisticPhysiologism- Medicalisation- 327
Richard StocktonRand,The Actor Transformed" " " "' - " "' 33r
U-oi"i*" Bokiniec,Body asText. Sorye.Comments onEcriture Fdminine
Theoly_I on a Performanceof Goethe's
David Roesnrr,v"narigGender and Acting 339
gespielt""":"""j':"'::"" '
; Frauenrollenauf dim rhmischenTheaterdurchMrinner
as a Performing Medium
JustynaSzachowicz-ir*prudr,The Figure of a Prostitute 347
. of the Pahiarchal Order

6. The Cuitural BodY

on stage""' 354
Edgaras Klivis,Bloodandsoil: virtual Body of theNation 359
Minika P ietrzak,Unclothing the Male""
uiinta CarHin,TheatresoTSri"n"", Representations of the Scientific Body
365

PART TWO: WORKSHOPSAND PERFORMANCES

, 4rn Bernstein
2

MARINA ABRAMOVIC AND THE PUBTICBODY

, One of the most remarkablechangesto take place during the sixties and the seven-
ties in the art sceneis, without question, the use of the artist's body in the artwork, in
mediated or unmediated ways. The body, which in the past appearedin the artwork
only as representation- in figurative painting or sculpture - becomesa medium of ex-
pression,,a surface to work upon, a stagewhere social relations are played on; desires
are projected,imag efra
a prop for performances.It is a signin a:systemof signification.It becomesthe artworl
iself.
The use of the body in art and performanceentailsa radical transformationof the
relationshipbetweenthe work, the artist;and the audience.The spectatoris no lolger
someone
"who sees,a beholder,an onlooker,a distantobserver.The presenceofthe body in the centerof
' the performanceshort-circuitsthe distancebetweenartist and'public.The emphasisof the work is
, in tum centeredon the processrather thadthe product. The mode of receptibn is thereforecom-
plicated- insteadof observinga self-containedart object, the audiencenow finds itSelf in an in-
iersubjectiverelationwith the embodiedself of the artist in theprocessof producingwork."l

In this paperI exploretheserelationshipsby examiningthe work of Yugoslavian

artist MarinaAbramovi6.I discusshow the majority of her works disruptsthe conven-
tional framework of spectatorship,deprii'ing the spectatorof voyeuristicpleasure,
pushingthe audienceout of its comfort zone,and challengingit to assumean active
role.

u
In her essayAesthetics and Anaesthetics: Walter Benjamin's Artwork Essay Recon-
sidered, SusanBuck-Morss traces the way by which the concept of aestheticshas be-
come not only totally detached from its original meaning (in ancient Greek Aisthitikos
standsfor that which pertains to or is perceptible by the senses)but in the age of me-
chanical reproduction it has indeed come to stand for its actual opposite. For Buck-
Morss.
 286 Ana Bernstein

l'The original fleld of aestheticsis not art but reality - corporeal,material,nature.As Terry
Eagletonwrites, 'Aestheticsis bom as a discourseof the body'. It is a form of cognition,achieved
throughtaste,touch,hearing,seeing,smell - the whole corporealsensorium.(...) This physical
cognitiveapparatus(...) is 'out front' of the mind, encounteringthe world prelinguistically,hence
prior not only to logicbut to meaningaswell.""

AnalyzingBenjamin'sseminalessay,Buck-Morssasserts:'Benjamin's under-
standingof modernexperienceis neurological.It centerson shock". kr the modem
world, onefinds himself/herselfsubmittedto continuousdaily shocks,to a dispropor-
tionatearnountof stimuli. A defensemechanlsm becombsnecessary to help us absorb
such shockswithout being traumatized.Benjamindraws on Freud's insight of con-
sciousnessas
energies'-from without,by pre-
"a shieldprotectingthe organismagainststimuli-- 'excessive
ventingtheirretention,
theirimpressasmemory"."
In the age of mechanical reproduction, shocks such as the ones that once resulted
only from extreme situations such as war, natural disastersand catastrophes,have be-
come part of everyday life. We havejust to think about the overabundanceof images of
violence, death and destruction - now on a global scale - that we encounter on our
television screenstwenty-four/seven.Thanks to the television, the radio, and the world
wide web, we can follow in real time the war in Iraq or the last massacrein Palestine.
Such an "excessof stimuli" results in a shut down of the sensoriumsystem,as a way to
protect body and mind frorn trauma. As Buck-Morss points out, the system has re-
versed its role: "Its goal is to numb the organism, to deaden the senses,to repress
memory: the cognitive system of synaestheticshas become,rather, one of anaestheti,es.
[n a] dialectical reversal, (...) aestheticschangesfrom a cognitive mode of being 'in
touch' with reality to a way of blocking outreality".
I want to argue here that Marina Ablamovi6'q wolk sgeks to restore the aeslhetic
experiencein its full sense,to its original meaning. She is not interestedin any form of
artistic contemplation. Rather, she seeksto engagethe spectator'swhole body, his/her
whole sensorium apparatusin an artistic experiencethat is directly telated to tfre em-
pirical - or so called "reil" - world, in which knowledge is acquiredthrough the body.
liii: Not just the eyes, distanced from the object, in a voyeuristic attitude, but the skin, the
earsothe'touch, the smell. Hence her works ask us to do simple things: to close our
eyes,to listen, to sit down, to breath, to walk.
Abramovid's works constitute an artistic mode of being-in-the-world, in the sense
employed by Mdrleau-Ponty, in which the self is a bodyln-the-world. For Merleau-
Ponty there is no knowledge that doesn't take place within the horizons opened up by
perception;no experienceof the world that is not at the sametime an experience of the (
body; and no perception that is not a re-creationof the world at every moment. The self
is, therefore,embodied, a camal being; and the act of perceiving the world is an active
act that engagessimultaneously the sensor and the sensible. The privilege usually as-
signed to vision as a cognitive function in Western thought, has no place in Merleau-
Ponty?s.work. The idea of an embodied self deconstructsthe Cartesiansubject, with its
mind and body split, and its dualisms such as subject/object and self/other. For Mer-
leau-Ponty, the subject is not detachedfrom the world, s/he is in the world, slhe sees
and is seen,perceives and is perceived. S/he is thus both subject and object; .and self
and other arenot opposite but reciprocal.
ii"'Marina Abramovii and the public Body

. "" Alramovii's performances in the latesixtieslearly seventies

becamefamousfor thd
'way the artist used her body/self as her principal materialand meansof work. The
bodywasalsothe primordialobjectin all of theRelationWork(1976-19gg)developed
with herformer lover/parrnerUlay (UweLaysiepen).Together,'they exploredrelations
in time, space,and movementin performan""r itut iften involu"a ,neniai-"rd;;
physicalendurance,varyingfrom self-flagellationsandrnutilationsto statesof
intense
concenfration andmeditation
' Oneof the mostinterestingcharacteristics of Abramovii's work from the very be-
gtnninglies in its relationwith the public.Her installations,performances, and objects
havdcalledinto questionthe traditionalboundariesbetweenartist and spectator,chal-
Iengingthe conventignalpassivityof the viewer, to whom is usually assigneaa voj
yeuristicrole. Ever sinceher first soundinstallations,Abramovidhasrelied on a
more
activerole by the public. In Forest (1972),for example,Abramovii createda sound
irrstallation(wind, birds,animals,footsteps)with instructionsfor the public:
'This is a forest.
Walk, run, breathe.
Feel like you arein the forest.
Write your impressions."4

,. Pag.es.ofpaper and pencilswere hung up on the walls so the public could write
doryntheir impressions.Photodocumentation of the installationshowsttrepaperscov-
eredwith ngtpsfrom thepublic.Abramovid'swork seeksto engagethe viewer tt rougtr
t}e senses,inviting a mode of perceptionthat doesnot privilJgJ the visual.Her per-
formancesaim to ffansformthe spectators in_toactiveputii"ipuritr,eitherUy prouotirrg
themto (re)actin someway or by engagingthemthrougntrreloay. ' '
,
Over the years,Abramovii's demandfor the public to interactwith her work has
becomeincreasingly.stronger, to the point wherethe artistliterally asksthe spectatorto
sign a contractwith her in orderto "view" her work. In Between(Igg6/Lggi; is an in-
teractivevideo installationin which Marina walks the spectatortirroughthe work, by
giving himlherinstructions.Beforeentering,the audienciis requiredt6 sign an agree-
ment to spendforty minutesinsidethe installation.Oncethe agreementii-signed, tfrg
spectatorentersthe spaceblindfoldedand with headphones, throughwhich s/trecan
listen to Abramovid'sinstructions.At the end, the rpertutorcaregiven a certificateof
completion,signedby the artist,in which shethanksthemfor grvingher their time and
their trust. Those are the stipulatedconditionsfor seeingthe work. Abramovi6 ex-
plains:
"In a performance,spendingtime is an analoguetransaction:you give the sameamcjuntof
time the audiencegives you. It's not like exhibiting your painting and going on a holiday while
peopleare visiting the exhibition. That's why tlecided to use a contractwith ttre public, before
they enteredmy exhibition, theyhad to sign ii.', 5

Once inside, Marina's voice insffucts the audience to feel comfortable, walking
them through relaxation"techniques and breathing exercises. After completing them,
they are instructed to take off their blindfold and observe the imag"r on the screen.
This momenthappensaknostat the end of the 'Joumey", so mostoi the experienceis
built aroundthe audience'sactivity ratherthan on the passiveact of watchingthe im- '
ageson the screen.With In Between,Marina makesexplicit the exchange- the ana-,
 288 Ana Berrtstein

loguetransaction- thattakesplacebetweenthe artist,the work, andthe audience.She

demonsffates that the artisticexperienceis a two-way streetin which the burdenof the
work falls asmuch on the performerason the audience.
In her late works,Abramovi6hasmoveda stepfurther towardsthe transformation
of therole of the spectator.If her earlierperformances haveattemptedto eliminatevo-
yeurism,transformingthe spectatorin an active participant,promptinghimlher to use
hisltrerbody,to engagesensuallyin the artisticexperience,with theTransitaryObjects
'rhetransformationis evenmoreradical:Abramovii tums the spectatorinto performer
andobject,andinto a work of art.
TransitoryObjectsare objectsmadefor the use of the public. Unlike sculptures,
theseobjectsdo not becomea work of art unlessthey areused,touched,saton, or laid
on. Here, like in Abramovi6's performances,the work is not about results, about
reachingan ultimateform, but aboutthe experience,aboutthe process- only this time
it is aboutthe public's experience.The centerof the work is no longerthe artist body,
but thepublic body.Abramovii sharesDuchamp'sbelief that "the public hasto be as
creativeas the artist."oWhile in her earlyworks Abramovidwantedto experience,to-
getherwith the public, the crossingof her physicaland mentallimits, now shewants
thepublicto experienceits own ffansformation.
The transitoryobjectsinclude shoes,tables,chairs,beds,mirrors,an "inner sky",
anda "crystalcinema".Behindthe transitoryobjectslies the idea of the re-ritualizaton
of everydaylife, throughthe power accumulatedby the repetitiveuse of the objects.
Energyis transmittedto the public whens/treentersin contactwith the minerals.The
TransitoryObjectsare instruments,a springboardfor a sensorial-andmental experi-
ence.ShoesFor Departure, made out of solid chunks of amethyst,and weighting
65 kg, areaccompanied by the followinginstructionsfor thepublic:
"Enter the shoeswith barefeet.
Eyesclosed.
Motionless.
Depart."

The Drago,ruobjects are a seriesof minerals and plates of copper for the audien'ceto
press their body against it, to sit or to lie down . Black Dragon, for example, is com-
posed of three minerals "pillows" aligned on the wall in such a way that when you
pressyour body against it, the crystals touch your head, your heart and your sex. Made
in different sizes and with different minerals, the Transitory objects are usually in-
stalled in series,allowing many people to use them simultaneously- so one walks into
a room just to find several people seating on Red Dragons, laying dolvn on Green
Dragons or pressing their bodies against Black Dragons. The effect is quite striking,
for the public, usually observing the object from a distance, has now become an inte.
gralpart of the object; they have becomea work of art. As Abramovid puts i!
;'therole is exchanged
in a funnyway- thepublicis on the wall andthe artistis in the space
looting at them.Sometimes you entereda spaceandyou sawjust a row of thirty peopleturned
towards thewall. Theworkis thesehumanbodiesrestingon thepillows,'.
In a museum, we are not aloud to touch the works. Guards are ever1rwhereto pre-
vent the public to come closer to the art objects, assuring their preservation.These art
works are there to be looked at, admired at a distance, Transitory objects, howevero
 289
Marina AbramoviC and the Public Body

. d-emand the public's participation,the fransformationof the spectatorsinto performers

I thut,in turn,leadsto the publicbody aswork of art.
The same happensii Sout Operatbn Room (2000), a number of different ob-
j'ects/environ-"oir that the public hasto enter and ase.Soul OperationTabQ is a very
ingf, table with various colored cotton screensaboveit through which lig,htis filtered.
clothesoff and lay
tf-rft" spectatorwantsto use the table, s/treis askedto take his/trer
The
, bn,his/herbact choosingoneof the color fields to face for the periodof onehour.
wholeact of taking the clottresoff, climbing the ladder to the table andlying down be-
performaice for which the othermembersof the public gatheredto see.The
'public a
.comes
obr"*". itself as performerand object, they seeand are seen,like Merleau-
PQnty'sembodiedself.
With all the obiectsof theSouIOperartonRoomthe publichasto getphysicallyand
*.,,',
temporallyinvolvid, enteringthem,touchingthem,usingthem.The audienceis trans-
fo*"a from merespecrators to usersof the work; they becomea neeessary part of the
66iectsif theseare to achievetheir finality
';, tn the site specificprojectDreamHouse(2000)in Echigo-Tsumari, a-ruralreglon
in the north of Japan,Abramovi6transformedthe different rooms of an ordinary house,
seekingfor a way to re-ritualize the small acts of everyday life. The visitors are te-
quire{-to spend the night in the house,sleepingin specially preparedroorns and to
*rit" thri. &"u*r in a book. Herg the art is to live, to carry on the little things of eve-
makesclear is
ryday life - to sleep,to sit, to drink water,to dream.What Dream House
li'i.
tttutittir work, tit<Jttretransitoryobjectsand performances by Abramovi6,is all about
f;; interaction,experience,process,andtansfortration.

NI
a

It hasbeen of the functions of the avant.gardeto disrupt traditional ways of per-

ceivingtheworld, challengingsocialandculturalnorms,andopeningup the possibility
for nei ways of thinking. Writing aboutAmerican avant-gardetheafe, Arnold Aron-
sonsays,
,.Avant-gardeperforrnancestrives toward a radical restructuring of the way in which the audi-
trans-
enceviews and experiencesthe very act of theatre [and performance],,whichin nrrn must
form the way in which the spectatorsview themselvesand their world."7

Abramovi6has alwaysbeenin the avant-gardesinceher first performances in the

late sixties,challengingoot only the waysin wtrictr we-perceive art but the conceptof
art itself It is not surpising to find p"op|" that eventoday,after 30 yearsof work, and
sucha long time after the buchampianrevolution,would not recognizewhat shedoes
asart.
Of all the perforrnanceartists who startedworking in the late sixtiesand continue
throughthe sevinties,sheis one of the few still producingcutting-edge work and who
hasnot given up perforrrance.
she
Abramovif's work has alwayscenteredon the body. Analyzingher ffajectory'
teahzedthatall theseyearsshehasbeenworking on a singleproject:
 290
Ana Bernstein

"r was alwaysbusy with only one idea. Even when I waspainfing
the basicidea was always
the body' Now to me it's more clear that in this body work
thereis a plear *""'"'
division between
uvrwev the
Arfist Body (me performing)and thepublic Body
lpubtic perrormingy,s-^-*
I believethat Abramovi6has actually beenworking
with two ideasfrom the very
start:the body and the fransfonnation-oithe spectaiorlThe
movefrom artist body to
public body is, in my vi.ew,the logrcar
of aur"r."ie;. *#p, to bieak
with the passive,voyeuristicstancJofthe "oorrqir"oce
spectator,in *rti.h mind
ciate,andto restorethe artisticeventjn rurf are disso-
as a ";J#i
sensual, corporealexperi-
ence'reversinganaesthetics its
into aesthetics. -urriog, performances
Abramoviiis aid objects put
us in touch with ourselvesas embodiedsubjectstnur
only know the wo4d through
- sensations andfeelings.This processnecessarily "u"thechange
entails
perfonrrer'In order to go thrbugh t}ir trun.rorrutioo of thesf""tuto, into
the public has to step into the
work' hasto makea commitmeoi.sub;"ctand object
are-thusno longerdissociatedbut
reciprocallyrelated.It is not an easy task. It demands
that,we UrJat<with .accepted
nofins' conventiona-l ways of thinking, and leamedbehaviorswith which we
might
Abramovii,s work, *.;oJu beginning.Let us ctoseour
:::V-comfortabte.
:::::: urtu ueparu.
clvr

Notes

I See:
H. Klocker, "Gesture and the object,,, out of performance and the ob-
Actiont brt*r*
jea, (ed.)Paul schimmer(ed.),The Museum
2. of contemporaryart, Los Angeles199g,pp. r5g_r.g5.
s' nuck-Morss, "Aestheticsand Anae.sllelcs:
walter Benjamin,sArtwork Essay Reconsid-
ered",october:ThesecondDecade,Igg6-Igg6,TheMrrpress,cururiag"
3lbidem, L997,pp.375_413.
p. 3gg.
and G. Celant,pubtic Body, Chata,Milano 2001,p.
,- M'
Y. Abramovii
*P1*"vi6 46.
and v' Abramovil, Time,space, Energy or Talking
About AsystemicThinking, in
Artist Body,op. quoted,p.412.
'H'u' obrist and M-.Atramovii, Tatkingwith Martna
Abramovi|, riding on the Bullet Train to
Kitakyushu;somewherein Japan, ia Art*t Aiay, op. quo{ed,
7 A. p. i
Aronson, AmericanAvant-GardeTheatre:A History,Roufledge,
8M. New york 2000.
Abramovi6,public Body, ap.quotedp. 16.