An Artist's Life: Marina Abramovic's Manifesto

AN ARTIST’S CONDUCT OF HIS LIFE
An artist should not lie to himself or to others
An artist should not steal ideas from the other artist
An artist should not compromise for themselves or in regard to the art market
An artist should not kill another human being
An artist should not make themselves into an idol
An artist should not make themselves into an idol
An artist should not make themselves into an idol

AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO HIS LOVE LIFE
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist

AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO EROTIC
An artist should develop an erotic point of view on the world
An artist should be erotic
An artist should be erotic
An artist should be erotic

AN ARTISTS RELATION TO SUFFERING
An artist should suffer
From the suffering comes the best work
Suffering brings transformation
Through the suffering an artist transcends [???] the spirit

AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO DEPRESSION
An artist should not be depressed
Depression is a disease and should be cured
Depression is not productive for an artist
Depression is not productive for an artist
Depression is not productive for an artist 

NPR: New Bible Updates Language; 'Booty' Falls By Wayside

New Bible Updates Language; 'Booty' Falls By Wayside : The Two-Way : NPR

Here are some of the swaps included in the new Bible:
"booty" is now "spoils of war" — for presumably obvious reasons.
"virgin" becomes "young woman" — especially where the original uses the Hebrew word "almah."
"holocaust" will become "burnt offerings" - scholars say that was closer to the original meaning, before "holocaust" came to be identified with the genocide of World War II.
"cereal"— now co-opted by General Mills and Post, becomes "grain."

An interesting look at how language evolves like a living organism. Word definitions change over time, yet many modern definitions are applied to ancient texts when the word was intended to mean something else. Not to mention translation inconsistencies and/or errors that can further distort meaning.

I think it's important to delineate between "intended meaning" and "applied meaning." Since language is itself a complete human construct, there can never be a "true" meaning of any linguistic application. In language, nothing existed before we decided to agree on shared meanings. When I say, "rock," if you understand English, you know what a rock is. There is a thing that is "rock" whether I call it rock, or boulder, or butterbutt. As long as you and I agree on nomenclature, we can share thoughts. Still, if I point to a rock and call it nothing, it still exists as a physical object. Language has none of that.

Thanks to Shannon Slane for pointing me to this article.

Ann Liv Young and pushing it

From blip.tv: On stage, Ann Liv Young has rolled around in her dog’s ashes, had sex with her co-stars, covered herself in blood, drank urine and attacked a PETA activist. Off stage, she has given the audience lap dances and ridiculed her own cast for fucking up during a performance.
As a graduate of the prestigious Hollins University dance program, as well as a former resident of the FUSED program in France and the Laban Centre in London, Ann Liv’s work has been presented at some of the most notable venues and festivals around America and Europe. Her shows, which she writes, performs, costume designs, stage designs and produces herself, are over-the-top performances that genre-bend elements of music video, porn, and fine art that really do go there.

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I found this interview to be interesting and relatable. In it, she talks about blending the real and the unreal, and how she doesn't start out thinking about the best ways to make the audience the most uncomfortable  (though she does admit that it may be a subconscious influence). She also talks about having fun with people's low shock thresholds; once you realize how easy it is to shock people, a little mischievousness kicks in.

I have been holding back on executing some of my more explicit work while in school, mainly because (based on precedent) SCAD administration would likely either censor it or expel me. Rationally, my immediate priority is in getting that piece of paper. The ideas don't go away. Whether I execute a work now or a year from now doesn't dilute its validity for me. However, the thought that my own art school—that openly promotes innovation in all areas—would stifle creativity in its students is kind of sickening. While I don't regret transferring to SCAD—since anywhere you go you get out what you put in, and had I not moved to Atlanta from NYC I wouldn't have pursued fine art—I do feel I've been sold a lot of empty promises. The University For Creative Careers. Maybe they should think about changing it to The University For Commercial Careers. 

Wonton idealism is a wonderful thing, but I have grander plans than sticking it to a little southern art school. That being said, I've been itching to do just that. 

Marina Abramovic Talk at SCAD deFINE Art Series audio transcript

Marina Abramovic, The Artist Is Present, MoMA

Thursday was SCAD's keynote talk for its deFINE Art series of artist talks featuring performance artist Marina Abramovic, who pioneered the use of performance as a visual art form. A Google search will tell you more about her than I ever could.

The main purpose of this post is to share an audio recording I made of the talk. She thought lecturing on her past work to be boring, so she decided instead to give a two-hour lesson on performance art. She shared a curated selection of performance video clips structured by body part (head, hands, feet, torso, body drama, etc.) from a wide variety of artists including herself, along with her thoughts on each. Video recording was not allowed, so without the video clips much of the impact will be missed, but she mentions the title and artist's name for many of the clips, so independent research can fill in the visual gaps.

[Edit: ArtRelish has the full video available, embedded after the jump]