#rhythm2

Performance art has always been an attention grabbing artform. The uniqueness and curiosity of what it might be has always been an interest of mine.

However, the performance that got my attention was Marina Abramović's Rhythm 2.

Between 1973 and 1974, Marina Abramović performed five pieces. These performances included the artist testing the limitations of her body and mind. Abramovic’s performances challenge the traditional use of what art mediums can be by using her own body as her canvas.

The reason Rhythm 2 stood out to me however was the length the artist was willing to go to in order to get her message across. This performance contained a two parts in which the artist would sacrifice her body and thoughts, while still having a functioning mind. Exploring the link between her body and her mind is always an active theme throughout most of Abramovic’s work. However, executing an art performance this drastic, using her body as the medium while also losing control over it was not a performance visitors wanted to miss.

This performance consisted of going to extreme measures to test her consciousness while remaining lucid. The artist was still going to be able to be aware of what was happening to her body, which is definitely the aspect of the performance that grabbed my attention.

She performed this work in Zagreb at the Gallery of Contemporary Art. She designed the performance as two parts that were spread across seven hours to separate the medications she was planning to take.

The first part involved her consuming a type of medication used for patients that suffer from catatonia. Catatonia patients mainly suffer from extreme motor immobility. The specific medication for this is used to help the patients change how their bodies are laid out, forcefully making the muscles shake. During the 50 minutes of this first performance, Abramovic’s muscles began violently contracting without any of her control. This made the artist’s body begin experiencing seizures and spasms. She was completely mentally conscious and lucid during this performance. although, she was still fully observing the physical effects of the medications without having control of her body.

After the effects of the catatonia medication wore off the artist had a ten minute interval. After, she then began her second performance.

This involved the artist taking a different medication to the first which had complete opposite side effects of the previous medication. It is prescribed to schizophrenic patients that experience extreme aggressive episodes due to their mental illness and is used to calm them down. While the drug came into effect, the artist's control over her mind began decreasing when she finally experienced a loss of consciousness. This half of the performance lasted much longer than the previous and didn’t end until Abramovic came back into consciousness, five hours later. She explains the experience as having no memory of it at all. This part of the performance could suggest that the artist was not only sacrificing her body, but her self image. This part of the performance is what interested me the most. There's so many questions I have of what the artist did when she was absent from her mind.

In addition to this, I think Abramovic’s performances test the traditional media methods in an extreme way. The exploration of inducing the loss of your mind or body shows the extreme message she is trying to propose, which is not one to be taken lightly.

For more information on the the performance art works of Marina Abramović, you can visit a Marina Abramović Youtube channel below.