by Sarah Waldrop
Marina Abramović is spending 512 hours interacting with visitors in her latest performance at The Serpentine Gallery in Kensington. Abramović is recognized for her minimalism and pushing the limits between her mind and body. Phones, cameras, watches and even sunglasses are not allowed within the exhibit and visitors will be asked to leave their belongings behind in lockers. So if your pretty much physically linked to your mobile phone, this one might no be for you.
Within the Gallery, participants become a part of the performance. The Gallery is silent prompting visitors to focus on the bare walls and the human energy around them. Abramović along with other ‘Guards’ lead participants to different places in the gallery encouraging them to close their eyes and just be in ‘that moment’.
‘Close your eyes and feel the energy of the room,’ she whispers to a participant.
Jennifer Brown, a journalism and communication student who visited the exhibition said ‘You really had to open your mind to appreciate the message of the piece. Immersed by silence and possibility we tried to look within ourselves and each other instead of being distracted by the outside world.’
This unique performance is the first since her piece, The Artist is Present, in New York where she invited visitors to sit opposite her in silence and gaze into her eyes. Marina Abramović is on a life journey toward immateriality, simplicity and minimalism. The exhibition seems to invite visitors to at least take a temporary dip into that same head space.
The silence and emptiness encourage an intimacy without distraction that can cause an array of emotion. Some participants were moved to tears and others felt calmed by the experience.
When: 11 June 2014 – 25 August 2014
Times: Tuesday – Sunday 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Where: Serpentine Gallery Kensington
Price: Free