Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Artist of the week: Marina Abramović

The Family III, chromogenic print, 70" X 88".

Abramović was recently featured on the May cover of Art in America, and this photo has haunted me ever since. Equally engrossing was the interview:
"I just happened to arrive during a Buddhist holiday; it was a celebration of water. Everyone was out along the river. There were monks chanting. The entire population was there. At the same time the children were on the roads playing with Chinese-made, realistic-looking plastic toy weapons. During the ceremony they were running around shooting at each other and imitating bad TV shows. The adults and the monks didn't seem to mind. I was struck by the bizarre contrast of the children playing war games and the peaceful ceremony."