The art of being in love

Living Art

by Tifenn Gancedo

“An artist should not fall in love with another artist.” Marina Abramović

For many artists, art is a performance executed at a moment M on a support, resulting in a canvas or a sculpture. But for others, art is lived fully, through the body, even through its own life and is a test, a surpassing of its limits, a resistance of its body, mental and spiritual

being. Art is lived entirely in joy as in suffering. This is notably the case for the couple Marina Abramovic and Ulay, two artists known worldwide in the 80s for their extreme performances. But before talking more about their common work, let’s linger a bit on our two characters.

No art without an artist

Marina is a Serbian artist who belongs to the artistic movement of body art, i.e. artistic practices based around the body. Thus, she does not hesitate to put herself in danger during certain performances by mutilating herself, taking drugs… In one of her most famous performances, she even gave her body to strangers, allowing them to do whatever they wanted with it.

Ulay on the other hand is a German artist and photographer, interested in space and society. In 1974 he worked on the project Renais sense which is a serie of self reflected collages about gender construction. This exposition was considered scandalous at the time.

Union and fusion

In 1975, the two artists met and decided to form a couple. During 12 years, they will live their couple through art by executing several performances which will force them to surpass themselves.

One example is Rest energy (1980) in which Ulay holds an arrow and Marina holds the bow and they both balance each other. The arrow is aimed at Marina’s heart. If Ulay moves, the outcome will be fatal for Marina. This performance illustrates the trust in the couple but also the man’s position of dominance.

In another performance called Relation in time ( 1977), the two artists sit back to back, tied by their hair and do not move for 17 hours. As they do so, their hair is untangled and their bond unraveled.

For years, the two artists will explore the dynamics and limits of their love, but unfortunately their relationship will deteriorate and they will decide to separate. They will live this separation through a final performance : in 1988, they will each travel to one end of the Great Wall of China (over 2000 km) before meeting one last time in the middle for a final farewell.

The end

Each of them will go their own way.

But 22 years later, while Marina organizes a performance at MoMa during the retrospective: The Artist is present, consisting in sharing a minute of silence with strangers, she will meet Ulay one last time for a final performance. One of the most intense ever.

Through their eyes we feel this love lived, the joy of the reunion, the sadness of the separation and the bond still present despite the years. It is to my eyes one of the most beautiful works of art that I have seen because for me, art is the fact of feeling something in front of a work. And this is exactly what happens in this case, it really makes me feel a lot, I lived the emotion and the beauty of the moment.

“Some couples buy pots and pans when they move in together. Ulay and I began planning how to make arttogether.”

Marina Abramović, Walk ThroughWalls: A Memoir

Ulay will die of cancer a few years later, leaving behind the work of his collaboration with Marina.