A V I TAL B ON D B E T W E E N AR T I ST S
The Complete Story of Performance Artists Marina and Ulay
MiKayla Thomas
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any couples meet in college, at an event maybe,
was unlike anyone she had ever met. He tied his hair up in
or through mutual friends. They may learn
chopsticks the same way she did, he was tall and skinny,
about the other’s interests and values, gradually
and his face was split into two identities. One half was rough
finding commonalities between themselves. Few have a
and stubbly, and the other clean shaven with light makeup
connection as strong and powerful as Marina Abramović
and a perfectly plucked eyebrow. A woman on one side, a
and Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen).
man on the other. This fascinated Marina, a young woman from a conservative family in Yugoslavia. This interest
Marina traveled to Amsterdam for a performance, and was
only grew in the days to come, as the two realized they had
greated the owner of the gallery that had invited her to
commonalities that were unexplainable expect by the belief
perform, and Ulay. Ulay was to be her guide throughout
in fate. It was more than pure chance these two had met.
the trip, and she was immediately intrigued by him. He
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Marina and Ulay, 1977
Marina and Ulay, 1977
Marina and Ulay, 196
MORE THAN PURE CHANCE T WO WOR LDS C OLLI DE WI TH U N DEN I AB LE C ON N EC TION
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arina Abramović and Uwe Laysiepen (Ulay) share the same birthdate of November 30, born in 1946 and 1943, respectively. They
met on November 30, 1975, their shared birthday, and they immediately embarked as a collaborative duo.7 The artistic partnership that emerged simultaneously with their romantic relationship was utilized to allow Marina and Ulay to explore the inner workings of these pairings. Their twelve-year collaboration resulted in numerous iconic performances that ultimately reinforced prescribed gender norms as opposed to reimaging them. Through intense physical and mental exercises/ performances, Marina and Ulay’s work together aimed to create a self-described unified, hermaphroditic self. This chapter will analyze their personal biographies and selected works throughout their collaborative career that are most representative of this gendered hybridity, successful or unsuccessful. Both Ulay and Marina were successful artists in their own right before they began collaborating, Ulay as a German performance artist and photographer, and Marina, as a Serbian performance artist in the former Yugoslavia. Ulay ‘s solo work as a performer and experimental photographer involved an obsessive exploration of aspects of identity and gender, where his own self-image and body were his materials. For two years in his daily life, Ulay wore drag, living and documenting the world of transvestites and transsexuals, or wearing half drag, existing as part female, part male, which is how he appeared when he met Marina. 8 Marina also used her body as her primary medium of choice. Her early performances experimented with physical limitations and thresholds, as both an artist and a female. She often performed nude, and would cause bodily harm to herself, or let others do so. For example, in Rhythm 0, 1975 she presented herself as a passive, stereotypical female figure to the audience. Marina allowed the audience to use her body as an unresisting object, in any way they desired, including stripping her, inflicting sexual assaults, and physical violence.
The pair decided to form a metaphysical hermaphroditic
focused performances in which each of them was thrown
collective being upon embarking on their relationship
back both on his or her own patience and endurance and
and collaboration. Hermaphroditism can be described
on the supportive partnership with which they faced the
as an intersex condition in which an individual possess-
world together.” Talking About Similarity, 1976 is one
es physiological characteristics of both sexes. However,
of the earliest collaborative performances and can be
as an intersex condition, individuals described as her-
interpreted in multiple ways. Ulay sews his mouth closed
maphroditic could be considered to be simultaneously
during the performance, leaves, and Marina operates as
both male and female but they are also, paradoxically,
his voice, answering questions from the audience that
neither one nor the other. It is in this way that Marina
Ulay is physically prevented from responding. Playing
and Ulay considered themselves to be complimentary
with the dynamics of gender and cultural understanding
pairs, each providing what the other lacked, in order to
of traditional male and female roles, this early work can
make a complete whole. Ulay and Marina dressed and
be seen as reinforcing the passivity of the female, which
behaved like twins (already strongly resembling each
is in direct contrast to the strength of the male. Ulay, by
other in build and appearance), and aimed to create
investing in the act of seeming self-mutilation, and also
a relationship of complete trust. Their earliest works,
disallowing himself the potential to speak, harkens to
from 1976 to 1980 are part of Ulay and Marina’s series
the stereotypical male figure that is assertive, in control,
of Relation Works, durational performances that were
domineering, and in charge, as Marina sits, as a pseu-
described as “work which both lives off of and feeds into
do-dummy, answering questions directed to him, for
the investigation of relationship between two humans as
him, “until I make a mistake and answer for myself.” She
they try to relate simultaneously to one another... highly
references the female figure, the dutiful partner, who
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has no voice except for speaking in agreement with the
I would like to offer is that they are reversing roles, and
hands working in tandem. Charles Green embraces this
male. Mary Richards, an art historian, writes extensively
Marina is now speaking in place of and for Ulay, owning
interpretation and further suggests Ulay and Marina’s
about sacrifice in regards to this performance. Although
the power and having the ultimate say, where Ulay has
collaboration as “blurred and doubled the ‘normal’ figure
Ulay was made to be a self-inflicted mute, Marina can
none. Ulay has sacrificed his voice, power, and physical
of the artist as an individual body.”13 For Green, Marina
be seen to offer a stereotypical female sacrifice, only
presence, deferring to Marina. Regardless, even a role
and Ulay’s hermaphroditic body more “resembled a third
existing in the performance space as a projective screen
reversal still leaves the pair locked in a power struggle –
hand, a doppelganger, or a phantom extension of the art-
for Ulay. 12 Again, this is significant when considered in
reversing gendered power dynamics isn’t changing them,
ist’s joint will.” 14 Green’s analysis, which is significantly
relation to their gendered identity; Ulay, as a male figure,
something that is also problematic in John Lennon and
informed by Marina and Ulay’s own discussion of their
could masochistically voice his experience through Ma-
Yoko Ono’s collaboration.
work, however fails to reference the utilization of how this
rina, and therefore was manipulating the power and plac-
This way of distinguishing the individual actions of the
third hand is approximated and created, as the creators of
ing Marina in the position of the sadist, reinforcing his
partners is not the only way to read Marina and Ulay’s
this “third hand,” it supposes that both Marina and Ulay
underlying power (he is empowered by making himself,
works. The claim of a fused being is enforced through-
contributed equally to its making. Is this hand conceptu-
by choice, powerless, martyred). This sacrifice seems to
out all performances, representing the space being
ally “birthed” from its artist “parents”?
reinforce/expose/complicate the notion that they are a
negotiated, which allows an alternative mode of analysis
fused self. Marina and Ulay can be seen as reinforcing
to be discussed. The actions of the combined figure of
gender stereotypes, with Marina volunteering her own
the merged self acknowledge the separate actions of
identity for the sake of Ulay’s, but an alternative analysis
each of the bodies similarly to a body’s left and right
“ T his man was everything I wanted, and I knew he felt the same about me.”
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A
bramović was born in Belgrade in 1946,
relays the reverse reaction she had to an experience
shortly after the end of WWII. Her formative
most children would find utterly distressing:
years, while heartbreaking, are not entirely
unusual for those of us raised in Eastern Europe — while
When one of my baby teeth fell out and the bleeding
Abramović’s experience is undoubtedly a function of her
wouldn’t stop, everyone thought I might have
parents’ particular personalities, it also reflects more
hemophilia so I was put in the hospital for a year.
general cultural pathologies related to discipline and
That was the happiest, most wonderful time of my
the chronic denial of emotional reality. She recounts:
life. Everybody was taking care of me and nobody was punishing me. I never felt at home in my own
My parents were both partisans and national heroes.
home and I never feel at home anywhere.
They were very hard-core and
THE MAIN PROBLEM IN THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS WHAT TO DO WITH THE TWO ARTISTS’ EGOS. I HAD TO FIND OUT HOW TO PUT MY EGO DOWN, AS DID HE, TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE A HERMAPHRODITIC STATE OF BEING THAT WE CALLED THE DEATH SELF.
were so busy with their careers
And yet under these harsh conditions, Abramović had no
that I lived with my grandmother
choice but to cultivate a skill fundamental for creativity
until I was six. Until then, I hardly
— that vital capacity for “fertile solitude” and ability to do
even knew who my parents were.
nothing all alone with oneself.
They were just two strange people who would visit on Saturdays and
Isolated from other children and condemned to
bring presents. When I was six,
forced aloneness, she began drawing daily — one
my brother was born, and I was
of the few activities her mother supported — when
sent back to my parents. From that
she was only three. Drawing became a lens through
point on, my childhood was very
which she saw and understood the world. She
unhappy. I grew up with incredible
relays one particularly formative experience:
control, discipline, and violence at home. Everything was extreme.
One day I was lying on the ground looking up and a
My mother never kissed me. When
few supersonic planes flew over me and made these
I asked why, she said, “Not to spoil
incredible lines, like drawings. I watched them appear,
you, of course.” She had a bacteria
form, then disappear; and then the sky was blue again.
phobia so she didn’t allow me to
It was incredible. I immediately went to the military
play with other children out of
base and asked friends of my father’s if they could
fear that I might catch a disease.
give me twelve supersonic planes to make a drawing
She even washed bananas with detergent. I spent
in the sky. They called my father and said, “Get your
most of my time alone in my room. There were many,
daughter out of here. She is completely nuts!” But after
many rules. Everything had to be in perfect order. If I
that, I never went to the studio again. It was almost
slept messily in bed, my mother would wake me in the
like a spiritual experience, and I realized that I could
middle of the night and order me to sleep straight.
make art from practically nothing. I could use water, fire, earth, wind, myself. It’s the concept that matters.
Illustrating just how reality-warping such parenting is and how hungry for affectionate care such systematic deprivation leaves the child, Abramović
This was the beginning of performance for me.
ART VITAL TH E AR TISTS EM B AR K ON C H ALLENG I NG JO U R N E Y
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n 1976, when Ulay and Marina Abramović decided to
of totality, both as artists and as a couple. Their destiny
magnified life-expressions that manifest themselves beyond
live and work together, they made a commitment to
was a singular one in recent art history, as they have not
provocative and existential dramatization.
each other, as expressed in their Relation Work’s Art
only embodied the idea of magnetic attraction between the
In the years of Relation Work (1976-1988) that refer to the
Vital manifesto:
opposites, but also the desire to experience and express
collaboration with Marina Abramović, Ulay controlled the
‘Art Vital: No fixed living place, permanent movement,
artistically the metaphysical necessity of completeness,
outcome of the documentation of their joint performances
direct contact, local relation, self-selection, passing
which manifests itself in the deepest of loves.
in terms of photography and video.
limitations, taking risks, mobile energy.’
Although they began their career together at a time when most of the artists who practiced performance had already
In other works from the same Renais sense series, the
Their highly charged conceptual performances were not
concluded these forms of practice, Ulay and Abramović
hybrid identity and transgender visual rhetoric is replaced
only radically new in terms of performative expressions,
have shown that performance art is not conditioned
by the representation of the androgynous. These works
but also in terms of the how the couple’s relationship was
historically, but is instead a medium with infinite expressive
translate different feelings and needs: the desire to obtain
involved in the production of meaning. Their experience
possibilities. Their performances cannot be categorized in
an androgynous unity and to retrieve the lost Self through
of life and creation is inextricably linked to the experience
any way, for they are not only self-expressions, but are also
the fusion with his beloved.
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PA S SIO N : T H E WOR K
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ne essential commonality emerges between
could exist. We had no money and the performances we did
artists who struggled before finding success. Like
hardly paid. We lived like that for five years and it was bliss!”
Patti Smith, who was homeless and starving for
years and yet thought of herself not as a homeless person but as an artist who hasn’t yet found her muse, Abramović made no compromises about being a full-time artist: “All I wanted to do was be an artist. I didn’t want to work in a restaurant or do any other job, so Ulay and I decided to live together in a van. It was the most radical but also the simplest decision I have ever made. It was really the only way we
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RELATION IN SPACE A R H Y TH M IC PER F OR MANC E OF T WO BODI E S M EE TI NG
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ne performance that is representative of
fused, or third, self. As the art historian James Westcott
a problematic relationship with gendered
notes, “Ulay had to restrain his full power, otherwise
stereotypes is Relation in Space, 1976 (Figures
Abramović would have been knocked down too easily.”
5, 6). This work is Ulay and Marina’s first and one of
24 With this in mind, Relation in Space cannot be
their best-known collaborations. The performance
understood as a testing of limits, but instead an exer-
begins with Marina and Ulay, both nude and positioned
cise demonstrating the illusion of a balance of power
approximately sixty feet apart, facing one another. For
between the male/female binary. There seems to be an
the next fiftyeight minutes, the two walked towards each
inherent problem with limiting one’s own potential for
other over and over again. Each time they approached
the sake of another, preemptively removing any sense of
each other, they collided. With each pass, the couple in-
competition. Creating the semblance of equality/com-
creased their speed and the resulting collisions became
monality of human experience through restraint only
more and more significant. The two artists describe this
reinforces the biological differences between the two
performance as “two bodies running for one to each
gendered performers.
other, like two planets, and mixing male and female energy into a third component that we called ‘that self.’” 23 However, this seminal work seems to be more about male/female conflicts than about the creation of either a
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“ Two bodies repeatedly pass, touching each other. After gaining a higher speed, they collide.”
This performance seeks to demonstrate equality between the sexes but does so only on the most superficial of levels. Although the artists claim this performance, like many of their others, is simply a collection of “apparently meaningless actions,” it is difficult to view this performance as a transgression of gender norms through this self-described meaningless action. Within the confines of the liminal gallery, it appears as though this performance functions as an editorial commentary reinforcing the differences between the genders.
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INTERRUPTION IN SPACE PH YSICAL DIV ISION PL AYS C RUC I AL ROLE I N PER F OR MANC E
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ith Ulay and Marina’s works, however, the power in the form of authorship is meant to be shared, as is the responsibility for
their respective roles within the context of any given performance. Their works speak to an intrapersonal understanding (they reference the desire for telepathy often), and trust in each other, that would be likely impossible in a strictly professional relationship. Thomas McEvilley, a close friend and art historian, writes of their complex relationship in his book Art, Love, Friendship - the title of which alone succinctly defines how intertwined their artistic practice was with their biography; their love life was inseparable from their artistic lives. In this book McEvilley writes, “Marina and Ulay made art in part through their love for one another.” As they defined this love through the conjoined phantom identity, their individual identities became less accessible in performances and public life. Here, an argument needs to be posited with respect to Marina and Ulay’s public and private life. Were their public lives and performances separate from their private identities? Do Marina and Ulay, in their private lives still exist as this fused hermaphroditic self? The gender issues of the hermaphrodite they created have already been analyzed in terms of performance, but what can be said about outside of the gallery, outside the performance in regards to their lives? Even though the performance work was not possible without the presence of the romantic coupling, it would seem that their private experiences could not escape from the demands of the performances. In private life, they maintained a traditional male and female separation of duties. Marina knitted, cleaned, and cooked, while Ulay drove, built structures for their performances, and managed the money. This heteronormative male/female negotiation of responsibility is reflective in several of their Relation Works.
“ T H E AUDI ENCE S AW US BOT H; E ACH O F US ON LY S AW T H E WAL L B E T WEEN US. T H E AUD IENCE S AW SEPAR AT I ON, BU T IN O UR L IV E S WE WER E CLOSER E ACH DAY. WE WER E BE C O MING A KIND O F MELDED PER SON AL I T Y. S O M E T IM E S WE C AL L ED E ACH OT HER ‘G LUE .’ TO G E T H ER , WE WER E SUPER G LUE .”
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IT LOOKED VERY PERSONAL , BUT IN FACT, THE PIECE HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH OUR RELATIONSHIP OR THE USUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF FACE SLAPPING: IT WAS ABOUT USING THE BODY AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.
LIGHT / DARK WH AT APPE AR ED A S R AG E , WA S AC T UALLY C H EM ISTR Y
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ften, Ulay and Marina spoke of themselves
go-for-it and heroism and the possibility of being killed.”
only non-performative work) and in content, as they
simply as “bodies,” and said that it was “not im-
30 Marina expands upon her gendered conception of
acknowledge their male and female halves and relinquish
portant that we are man and woman.” 28 With
energy to say of beginning their collaboration, “as soon
the hermaphroditic body.
this in mind, it can be assumed that issues of gender were
as we were together my female energy came out and I
not the primary conceptual impetus behind their perfor-
really felt I didn’t need to be like a man anymore. [Ulay]
mative practices. Yet, while this may be true, some critics
was acting out the male/female issue already. Then after
The works described in this chapter express the mate-
maintain that gender was an important and often critical
we met he just shaved the other side too, so he became a
rialization of the metaphorical hermaphroditic union
part of the conversation that relates to their entire oeuvre.
man.” 31 McEvilley then notes that Ulay “had assumed
by Marina and Ulay in a variety of ways. A conceptual
McEvilley’s writings and interviews prove invaluable for
the severe patriarchal role that she had played for herself
analysis corroborates the fact that many of their perfor-
the discussion of gender in their “artistic collaboration
in earlier works, and she was now wholly compliant.”
mances often reinforced gender stereotypes as opposed
that has emphasized mediations and balancings of the
32 Ulay and Marina most successfully articulate these
to redefining them, regardless of their intentions. Marina
male and female principles.”29 He reinforces that before
notions of gendered difference with the work, Modus
and Ulay embarked upon both literal and figurative feats
their collaborations and during, as articulated above,
Vivendi. Modus Vivendi or ‘Way of Living’, 1984-1985, is
of endurance that tested the limits of both their personal
both explored gender stereotypes in their work, such as
a life-size photographic series of works shot on Polaroid
and professional relationships, and ultimately resulted
with Rhythm 0, where Marina relinquished control of her
in which Marina and Ulay, as silhouettes, represent sym-
in the demise of both. Unable to escape the convention-
body, existing as a stereotypical passive female body to
bolic icons of male and female archetypes of womanhood,
al constructs of patriarchally defined notions of man
be used, and in Ulay’s early performances experimenting
maleness and union. 33 Here the conceptually essential
and woman, they created scenarios based on trust and
with drag. Conversely, Marina, in regards to her early,
underlying and unspoken subject of their work becomes
reciprocity that simultaneously struggled for their sense
solo works before their collaboration, and specifically of
fully conscious as they talk about difference as opposed
of gendered self to be eroded or subsumed for the sake of
Rest Energy says, “The courage to do the piece seemed
to similarity. 34Modus Vivendi marks a strong departure
the other.
more male...I took a completely male approach, really
from the early works, both stylistically (this is their first/
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B R E AT H I NG I N, B R E AT H I NG OUT
A V ISUAL AN D PH YSICAL R EPR E SEN TATION OF DEPEN DENC E
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his project consisted of the artists sitting in front of the other, connected to the mouth. They took in their breaths until all the available oxygen is ex-
hausted. The performance lasted only 17 minutes, resulting in the collapse of the two artists on the floor unconscious. This personal piece explored the idea of a person’s ability to absorb the life of another person, sharing and destroying it. The works described in this chapter express the materialization of the metaphorical hermaphroditic union by Marina and Ulay in a variety of ways. A conceptual analysis corroborates the fact that many of their performances often reinforced gender stereotypes as opposed to redefining them, regardless of their intentions. Marina and Ulay embarked upon both literal and figurative feats of endurance that tested the limits of both their personal and professional relationships, and ultimately resulted in the demise of both. Unable to escape the conventional constructs of patriarchally defined notions of man and woman, they created scenarios based on trust and reciprocity that simultaneously struggled for their sense of gendered self to be eroded or subsumed for the sake of the other.
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“ W hile he paced in actual danger of falling, I walked in metaphorical danger.�
THE BRINK A WALK OF BOTH SYM BOLIC AN D LI TER AL DANG ER
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he works described in this chapter express the
given performance. Their works speak to an intrapersonal
alized through its association with showing artworks, where
materialization of the metaphorical hermaphrodit-
understanding (they reference the desire for telepathy of-
conventional rules (here the implied rules of gender) can be
ic union by Marina and Ulay in a variety of ways.
ten), and trust in each other, that would be likely impossible
broken, ignored, manipulated, as a space to merge into this
A conceptual analysis corroborates the fact that many of
in a strictly professional relationship. Thomas McEvilley,
hermaphroditic form, which seems to transgress and trans-
their performances often reinforced gender stereotypes as
a close friend and art historian, writes of their complex
form the binary of gendered figures. This transgression is
opposed to redefining them, regardless of their intentions.
relationship in his book Art, Love, Friendship - the title of
illustrated through the complex logic of many performance
Marina and Ulay embarked upon both literal and figurative
which alone succinctly defines how intertwined their artistic
pieces, when gendered roles are reversed, convoluted, or
feats of endurance that tested the limits of both their per-
practice was with their biography; their love life was insepa-
combined.
sonal and professional relationships, and ultimately result-
rable from their artistic lives. In this book McEvilley writes,
ed in the demise of both. Unable to escape the conventional
“Marina and Ulay made art in part through their love for one
constructs of patriarchally defined notions of man and
another.” 21 As they defined this love through the conjoined
woman, they created scenarios based on trust and reciproci-
phantom identity, their individual identities became less
ty that simultaneously struggled for their sense of gendered
accessible in performances and public life.
self to be eroded or subsumed for the sake of the other. Within their performances, Green writes, “extreme self-abWith Ulay and Marina’s works, however, the power in the
sorption spectralized their bodies, so their collaborative
form of authorship is meant to be shared, as is the respon-
body became their real body.” 20 Marina and Ulay utilized
sibility for their respective roles within the context of any
the gallery as a liminal space, a transitional space contextu-
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F OR CE : I N F LU ENC E
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hat began as a fairy-tale romance ended in
everything to me. I dedicate all the energy in my body to my
a nightmare. Abramović was forty and even
work and have completely sacrificed a more conventional
though she felt “fat, ugly, and unwanted,” she
personal life for it. I have no partner and no children, but
had only one choice in order to go on — make good art. She
I’m very proud of myself for always doing what I want, no
brings the journey full-circle to the determinative experi-
matter what the cost and no matter how long it’s taken… I
ences of her childhood, attesting to the fact that great artists
wake up in the morning with this urge to create; it’s almost
spend a lifetime making power from their wounds:
like I am in a fever. Every single day is structured. I work, work, work, and my curiosity never ends.”
“When I was growing up, my private life was not valued. The noblest thing one could do in my family was to sacrifice everything for a cause. Art became my cause and it’s still
Force - Influence
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hough an intriguing concept, this metaphorical
they shared the most essential of all life’s needs: breath.
third hand or force that Green describes may be
The two artists were seated opposite each other, locked in
more accurately articulated as a union, as the
what appears to be a passionate embrace. However, their
merging of two beings into one metaphysical fused self,
noses were plugged, their mouths were locked together,
as opposed to a third, newly formed additional creation. In
and they have constrained themselves to remain so for
terms of authorship, the collaborative credit acknowledg-
as long as possible, only taking in the other’s exhalation.
es the figures of Marina Abramović and Ulay as a pairing
By subverting the most basic of human operations, the
of two separate individuals, not as a representative
symbiotic couple engaged in self-sabotage to realize
third figurehead. I prefer to relate their collaboration to
their fused being fully. 17 As two individuals sharing
Aristophanes’s discussion of hermaphroditism in Plato’s
the same breath, in and out, the stereotypical male and
Symposium, though not a contemporary example, as
female dynamic of control was relinquished. Instead
used in Carolyn Heilbrun’s book, Toward a Recognition of
the performance offered a “dissolution of binary based
Androgyny. In Plato’s writings on love, Aristophanes says
power” and created the actual morphed self towards which
that human beings were originally spherical and bisexed/
Marina and Ulay had worked. 18 In the end, their “choices
hermaphroditic androgynous figures and subsequently
forced each other into an unsustainable interdependence
split into two opposite sexed halves, male and female. The
that would become mutually suffocating,” 19 and they
halves wander lonely through the world forever seeking
collapsed, unconscious after sixteen minutes. Breathing
one another.
In/Breathing Out also references the obsessive aspect of
Representations of the creation of the fully fused perfor-
romantic relationships, the necessity to do everything
mative hermaphroditic self are made fully visible by Ulay
with and for another, and the toxicity and fleetingness of
and Marina in Breathing In/Breathing Out, 1977, one of
the situation – it is not sustainable. This performance is
several performances in which they explore the notions
the embodiment of the hermaphroditic union and their
of linkage and unification. For Breathing In/Breathing
relationship at its most extreme.
Out, the pair seemed truly to function as a unified self, as
G IVING B I RTH TO A N EW L IFE PAI R B EC OM E S K NOWN A S G R AN DPAR EN TS OF PER F OR MANC E AR T
Force - Influence
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Marina and Ulay, 1977
Marina and Ulay, 1977
Marina and Ulay, 196
D ISC O NNE C T: T H E SPLI T/NOW
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he power couple ended like many famous duos do; a crash and burn after a flaming romance
The pair broke up in 1988—fittingly, at the conclusion of
and intense working relationship. Unlike the
a performance in which they started at opposite ends of
majority of couples, however, Marina and Ulay made their
the Great Wall of China and met in the middle. (They orig-
ending a performance all its own. “Nightsea Crossing was
inally intended to marry there.)
the beginning of the end for us,” Abramović admitted.
“For her, it was very difficult to go on alone. For me, it was
During one performance, Ulay could not match her
actually unthinkable to go on alone,” recalled Ulay, who
endurance abilities. She continued to sit after he gave up,
withdrew from the art world in subsequent years. “If love
facing an empty chair.
is broke it turns to hate,” he added. “She hated me.”
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“I T WA S IMP O S SIBLY BE AU T IF UL US BR E AT H ING T HE S AME R H Y T H M, T HE DAYS G OI N G BY. . . A S BE AU T IF UL A S IT WA S , T HOU G H, T H ER E WA S A WO R M IN T H E APPL E .”
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N
ow 72, Ulay splits his time between Amsterdam
table in half and invited visitors to sit opposite her
and Ljubljana, Slovenia. We meet in his spacious
instead of me.” He says his own initial indifference to
flat, overlooking the Dragon Bridge. He first came
the issue of authorship has contributed to the problem.
to Ljubljana for a show of his work and met his now-wife,
“Because I don’t want to always struggle with her.”
a renowned Slovenian graphic designer. Their apartment is full of art and found objects: antique apothecary
Their relationship remained cordial and might have
jars, handwritten notes in a number of languages, an
continued so, he says, had Abramović not interfered with
ornately carved south Asian screen. But Ulay is rarely
the publication of his 2014 book, Whispers: Ulay on Ulay.
in one place for long: invited to perform at Art Basel,
The book – which included images from their joint works
teaching on the Greek island of Hydra, filming in Paris.
– was begun when Ulay was undergoing chemotherapy. Abramović originally agreed to give an interview – “She
In 2013, he was the subject of a documentary film,
was extremely kind,” recalls its author, Maria Rus Bojan –
Project Cancer, which followed him for a year after
but later claimed through her lawyer that she had not given
he was diagnosed with lymphoma. After extensive
permission to use either the interview or some pictures.
chemotherapy, he beat the cancer and is now in fine form. He mocks what nearly killed him with a Marlboro
The publisher decided to exclude about 28 images,
Red for ever curling smoke around his fingers.
printing a pink square in place of each. It is the page numbers of these missing images that Ulay scribbles
Warm and soft-spoken with a haggard handsomeness,
on the wall in A Skeleton In The Closet. “I was hurt, very
he seems to have more stories than could fit in one
much hurt.” he says. “It is unthinkable, so unjust, so not
biography. He was born in Germany, but is synonymous
right. When I was working with her, she was great. But
with Amsterdam’s art scene, where he lived for decades
then, you know, the direction she went to, to become a
and still keeps an apartment. His art career began with
star, is something I do not envy. It’s far away from my
his role as a photographer for Polaroid, travelling Europe
intentions, wishes, desires ... it went to her head.”
and the US, taking photographs with their colossal 20x24 and 40x80 inch cameras. The majority of his work remains
Curator Tevz Logar, who organised Ulay’s first show in
photographic, but he made his name with his (frequently
Slovenia, points out that, until recently, Ulay had showed
cross-dressing) performances.
no interest in maintaining a position in the contemporary art world. Now he is represented by the MOT International
The most famous relationship in performance art ended
gallery, and will have a solo exhibition in London next
dramatically 18 years ago, after a piece in which Ulay and
year. “That meant that he started to enter Marina’s
Abramović set out from opposite ends of the Great Wall
symbolic space, space that until now she ruled over.
of China – then met in the middle to say farewell. Ulay says that from 1988-99, he and she did not speak. With
“Every single person in the art world knows that the
the encouragement of Abramović’s gallerist Sean Kelly, a
Relation Works [their most famous collaborative series]
contract was drawn up to manage their joint oeuvre and
worked because of the balance between them, and
Ulay sold his physical archive – including negatives and
of their equal and joint efforts,” says Logar. “That is
transparencies – to Abramović. According to the contract,
how it entered the history of art and performance.”
it could be used to produce saleable work at Abramović’s discretion with 20% of the profit going to Ulay. She agreed
When approached to comment on the case, Abramović’s
to tell him about any reproductions or sales of their work.
lawyer replied: “Mrs Abramović totally disagree[s] with
The main problem in this relationship was
Ulay’s allegations. My client doesn’t want to comment
what to do with the two artists’ egos. I had to
on them, they are libellous. My client considers that this
find out how to put my ego down, as did he, to
lawsuit is abusive and aimed to damage her reputation in
create something like a hermaphroditic state
public, which is proven by his allegations to you. My client
of being that we called the death self.
is very confident in her position in front of the court. She
Since then, Ulay claims she has violated that contract. He
will defend her rights and reputation by all legal means.”
says he has received surprisingly little money – much less, he reckons, than half of what he should have received.
As for Ulay, he is defending his reputation by more
Each of their works sell regularly for five or six-figure
subtle means. A tiny note in the acknowledgments
sums, yet he has received a total of €31,000. “There is
pages of his book Whispers reveals the reason
THE MAIN PROBLEM IN THIS RELATIONSHIP WAS WHAT TO DO WITH THE TWO ARTISTS’ EGOS. I HAD TO FIND OUT HOW TO PUT MY EGO DOWN, AS DID HE, TO CREATE SOMETHING LIKE A HERMAPHRODITIC STATE OF BEING THAT WE CALLED THE DEATH SELF.
a lot of money going through her
for the pink squares – and the missing images. “I
accounts – and of course they have
think it must have pissed her off,” he says.
a very good accountant.” He says he only learned of a major Adidas commercial that used their joint work while it was being filmed. Ulay claims she has paid him only four times. He explains what he hopes to achieve through litigation: “The points I’m asking of her are: every three months, a statement on sales and my royalties. And I’m asking for absolute proper mentioning of my name.” What concerns Ulay more, though, is his sense that Abramović is trying to write him out of art history. He claims their contract stipulates that
their works must be joint credited, but that Abramović has been claiming sole authorship. “She has deliberately misinterpreted things, or left my name out,” he says. Ulay also claims that The Artist is Present “borrows from” one of their joint works, the epic 90-day performance series Nightsea Crossing, which they performed between 1981 and 1987. “At MoMA, she just cut the
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