Marina Abramovic

Public Body

By Celant, Germano & Troisi, Sergio

Publishers Summary:
"Public Body" is the third book in a trilogy dedicated to Marina Abramovic, and presents the work ''Transitory Objects for Human and Non-Human Use.'' In this work Abramovic built a series of transitory objects with the objective of engendering active audience participation. Abramovic hit upon the idea while she was walking along the Great Wall of China; she realized that it was the first time that she was doing a performance without an audience. To transmit this experience she constructed a series of objects: for ''human use,'' ''spiritual use,'' and ''use of power.'' These objects--made of iron, wood, minerals, pigs' blood, and human hair--all ''contain a certain kind of energy,'' according to Abramovic. She does not see these works as sculptures, but as ephemeral objects that trigger public experiences through direct interaction. Whereas the first two books in the trilogy, "Performing Body" and "Artist Body", focused on the artist and her oeuvre, "Public Body" flips the proverbial script, enacting a role reversal between artist and audience. The book features an impassioned essay by Abramovic concerning her thoughts on public performance and her recent trips to China, India, Japan, and Brazil, as well as an interview with the artist by Germano Celant.

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ISBN
978-8-88158-295-2
Publisher
Charta


REVIEWS

Library Journal

Reviewed on November 15, 2001

This monograph begins with a lengthy interview between the artist and Celant (Piero Manzoni), senior curator for contemporary art at the Guggenheim and the first to articulate the arte povera aesthetic. The interview is the book's principal text, and it offers the reader a valuable interpretive anchor for the subsequent catalog of works. But while the catalog shows the trajectory of Abramovic's career, the interview is concerned mostly with her pieces from the 1990s t...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

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