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in honor of and inspired by
"The House With the Ocean View"
An
artist needs to become familiar with that which is most hidden
from the self by the self for this one thing which one fears to
know is often the driving force in one's life. These recognitions
seen in art are the difference between decent and extraordinary
and great.
- Pat Stier
On Sunday,
November 10, I read Steven Henry Madoff 's article: "A
Viewable Fast, Enforced by Knives" about an upcoming
performance piece by Marina Abramovic at the Sean Kelly Gallery.
I understood deep in my gut how important this piece would be, and
because I felt that way, I also realized that I had a responsibility
to support it by attending every day. I brought a new journal
with me, not knowing what to expect and made a few pages of drawings
in it while I was there. When I went home that night, still
focused on the performance, I did my normal hour of painting in
my 5 journals and decided to bring that daily practice to the gallery
with me. I also made the decision to paint a postcard
every day to send to Marina and in solidarity with her fasting, I
decided not to drink alcohol for the duration of the piece.
The
experience of attending this performance was rich, varied and very
emotional. Just the action of painting during a performance
devoted to being, was difficult. Breaking down my highly honed (NY)
basrriers to intimacy with strangers was another hurdle, but
necessary to being a part of the piece. I think I chose the
quote above because it applies to the experience and journey that I made as a
participant and (I believe) Marina made as a performer during the
duration of the performance. At some point perhaps I will write
about the experience further, hopefully the images I made are an
adequate representation of what evolved for me. |