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This not an easy piece to write as it requires me to chide both a favorite TV program and an “artist” I have never met. But the fourth tenet of Distilled Harmony [www.distilledharmony.com] is Oppose Harm, and to paraphrase the Duke, “sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do."
I must admit that I had never heard of Marina Abramovic until CBS Sunday Morning’s gushing story by Serena Altschul about Abramovic that aired November 30th, 2014. Obviously my error as the story began by informing me that Art Review magazine had dubbed Abramovic #5 on its list of "the hundred most powerful people in the contemporary art world." As the story unfolded it became clear why the adjective “powerful” was employed instead of oh, say, talented or creative or meaningful or . . . .
Abramovic is a performance artist who seems to do pretty traditional stuff as far as CONtemporary performance art is concerned. She hurts herself in a variety of ways. She puts people into a large empty space, blindfolds them and puts noise canceling headphones on them and has them walk around bumping into walls and each other. Stuff like that. In her defense I could not find references to any works that were gratuitously violent to others or panderingly erotic or scatological. She is perhaps best know for a “performance” called “The Artist is Present” in which she sat on a chair in a display space at MoMA. There was a table in front of her and another chair across the table from her. She would sit silently in her chair and museum guests, I assume paying guests, would sit in the other chair and - also silently - gaze into her eyes.
It has always seemed to me that there are - to grossly oversimplify - two kinds of artists in the world. They are, perhaps, united in a powerful need to create. Making a living as an artist - any kind of artist, visual, musical, dance, literature, etc., - is so difficult that few people stick with it unless truly driven to create. But underneath that large umbrella I have always felt a dichotomy between artists who create primarily to communicate with others, art for an audience; and those who create as a kind of personal therapy. That second category includes those whose art makes them feel better. An audience is only necessary as a tool for, or a witness to, their personal therapy. “The Artist is Present” seems a to fit clearly in the “art as personal therapy” school. What can be more affirming than having 750,000 people pay for the privilege of coming and sitting across the table from you? You don’t talk to them. You do nothing. You can see in them whatever you choose, while they focus on you. Talk about the ultimate ego rush. Memememememememememe! They shift and move on like a speed dating partner, but you remain constant. It is always about memememememememe!
But, in a way, that is OK. It obviously makes Abramovic feel good. My own doodles make me feel good. If they make others smile - all the better. Art has to live under a pretty big tent. Anyone who feels that they can understand all ART, writ large, is going to find themselves in need of serious therapy. There is just too much being said in too many different ways for any one human being to take it all in, let alone come to grips with what each artist is trying to say. I get that. Live and let live. But then Abramovic went too far:
"The worst childhood you have, the better artist you become, because you have things to work with," she said.
What an utter crock. Sounds like a would-be gangsta rapper trying to establish some kind of street cred: "My neighborhood was so tough that smoking crack was considered a form of rehab." Please. Perhaps Abramovic draws her creative energy from an abusive childhood. That would explain the dominant “self-therapy” strain in her work. But to generalize her personal journey to the rest of the world “The worst childhood you have, the better artist you become,” is incredibly arrogant, and potentially dangerous. Want your child to discover his or her true artistic potential? Smack them about a bit. Be withdrawn. Be cold. It may seem cruel now, but they will thank you for it when they - like Abramovic - have a sprawling, bucolic estate in upstate New York where they can retreat, hug their favorite tree with the nice lady from Sunday Morning, do yoga with Lady Gaga and recharge their batteries.
I mean really. I try to rein in my inclination to assert that in most CONtemporary art the accent is on the first syllable. But just when I think I’m finding some harmony there, someone like Abramovic comes along playing the long CON. This is an artist who seems utterly unfamiliar with the notion of Enable Beauty.
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