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Review: Marina Abramovic’s ‘Walk Through Walls,’ a Memoir of Masochism and Pretension Review: Marina Abramovic’s ‘Walk Through Walls,’ a Memoir of Masochism and Pretension
(2 days later)
Marina Abramovic’s first major performance art piece was based on an old Russian drinking game. In front of an audience in 1973, she took a series of sharp knives and stabbed each as quickly as she could into the spaces between her fingers. (In the game, there is only one knife and you take a drink for each nick.) Blood went everywhere.Marina Abramovic’s first major performance art piece was based on an old Russian drinking game. In front of an audience in 1973, she took a series of sharp knives and stabbed each as quickly as she could into the spaces between her fingers. (In the game, there is only one knife and you take a drink for each nick.) Blood went everywhere.
The art crowd loved it. Ms. Abramovic knew she’d found her medium. “No painting, no object that I could make, could ever give me that kind of feeling,” she writes in “Walk Through Walls,” her new memoir. “It was a feeling I knew I would have to seek out, again and again and again.”The art crowd loved it. Ms. Abramovic knew she’d found her medium. “No painting, no object that I could make, could ever give me that kind of feeling,” she writes in “Walk Through Walls,” her new memoir. “It was a feeling I knew I would have to seek out, again and again and again.”
This finger-stabbing phase was followed by one that might be described as, “I take off my clothes and cut myself, sometimes while lying on ice.” There was her I-run-into-things-while-naked period. There was a crawl-on-the-floor-with-snakes era.This finger-stabbing phase was followed by one that might be described as, “I take off my clothes and cut myself, sometimes while lying on ice.” There was her I-run-into-things-while-naked period. There was a crawl-on-the-floor-with-snakes era.
She was there early, and she became known as the godmother of performance art. Her pieces combined masochism and spiritualty, often to intense effect. They were a form of “body horror,” to use a phrase that has been applied to films directed by David Cronenberg. She was there early, and she became known as the godmother of performance art. Her pieces combined masochism and spirituality, often to intense effect. They were a form of “body horror,” to use a phrase that has been applied to films directed by David Cronenberg.
Her career built to an intensely popular 2010 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. More than 750,000 people stood in line for a chance to perch across from Ms. Abramovic (James Franco came, as did Björk) and silently communicate with her as she sat unmoving for, all told, more than 700 hours. In her memoir, we learn there was a trapdoor into which she could surreptitiously urinate. She says she never used it.Her career built to an intensely popular 2010 retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art. More than 750,000 people stood in line for a chance to perch across from Ms. Abramovic (James Franco came, as did Björk) and silently communicate with her as she sat unmoving for, all told, more than 700 hours. In her memoir, we learn there was a trapdoor into which she could surreptitiously urinate. She says she never used it.
I knew I was going to dislike Ms. Abramovic’s memoir on Page 10. That’s where she declares that, as a child growing up in postwar Yugoslavia, she didn’t play with dolls or toys. Instead, she writes, in a passage that sets this book’s tone of sleek, international, Bono-level pretentiousness, “I preferred to play with the shadows of passing cars on the wall.”I knew I was going to dislike Ms. Abramovic’s memoir on Page 10. That’s where she declares that, as a child growing up in postwar Yugoslavia, she didn’t play with dolls or toys. Instead, she writes, in a passage that sets this book’s tone of sleek, international, Bono-level pretentiousness, “I preferred to play with the shadows of passing cars on the wall.”
A tolerance for a certain amount of pomposity is a prerequisite for keeping up with serious art; otherwise, you’re always sitting at the short table and using the plastic cutlery. In “Walk Through Walls,” Ms. Abramovic pushes this tolerance to its limits.A tolerance for a certain amount of pomposity is a prerequisite for keeping up with serious art; otherwise, you’re always sitting at the short table and using the plastic cutlery. In “Walk Through Walls,” Ms. Abramovic pushes this tolerance to its limits.
You will need to be able to withstand a great deal of conversation about clairvoyants and tarot cards and didgeridoos and kundalini life forces and monks and gurus and “how the soul can leave the body through the center of the fontanel of the head” to make it very far in this memoir.You will need to be able to withstand a great deal of conversation about clairvoyants and tarot cards and didgeridoos and kundalini life forces and monks and gurus and “how the soul can leave the body through the center of the fontanel of the head” to make it very far in this memoir.
Aboriginals are visited and condescended to. (“They should be treated as living treasures.”) Ms. Abramovic amended her section about Aboriginals after she was criticized for writing, in advance copies of “Walk Through Walls”:Aboriginals are visited and condescended to. (“They should be treated as living treasures.”) Ms. Abramovic amended her section about Aboriginals after she was criticized for writing, in advance copies of “Walk Through Walls”:
“They look like dinosaurs … When you first meet them, you have to put effort into it. For one thing, to Western eyes they look terrible. Their faces are like no other faces on earth; they have big torsos (just one bad result of their encounter with Western civilization is a high-sugar diet that bloats their bodies) and sticklike legs.”“They look like dinosaurs … When you first meet them, you have to put effort into it. For one thing, to Western eyes they look terrible. Their faces are like no other faces on earth; they have big torsos (just one bad result of their encounter with Western civilization is a high-sugar diet that bloats their bodies) and sticklike legs.”
A Twitter hashtag, #theracistispresent, emerged — a twist on the title of Ms. Abramovic’s MoMA retrospective, “The Artist Is Present.” She later replied that her writing in the advance copies did not “represent the understanding and appreciation of Aboriginals that I subsequently acquired through immersion in their world.”A Twitter hashtag, #theracistispresent, emerged — a twist on the title of Ms. Abramovic’s MoMA retrospective, “The Artist Is Present.” She later replied that her writing in the advance copies did not “represent the understanding and appreciation of Aboriginals that I subsequently acquired through immersion in their world.”
Ms. Abramovic reports in “Walk Through Walls” that under the right circumstances, she can foresee world events. “I dreamed of an earthquake in Italy: 48 hours later, there was an earthquake in southern Italy. I had a vision of someone shooting the Pope: 48 hours later, someone tried to shoot Pope John Paul II.”Ms. Abramovic reports in “Walk Through Walls” that under the right circumstances, she can foresee world events. “I dreamed of an earthquake in Italy: 48 hours later, there was an earthquake in southern Italy. I had a vision of someone shooting the Pope: 48 hours later, someone tried to shoot Pope John Paul II.”
There’s a self-help aspect to this memoir — “I hope that this book is inspirational and teaches everyone that there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome” — that blends poorly with the implicit injunctions to warm one’s hands on the blaze of her greatness. She likes to say things like, “I’m only interested in an art which can change the ideology of a society.” Her art, judged on that scale, shrinks further in size.There’s a self-help aspect to this memoir — “I hope that this book is inspirational and teaches everyone that there is no obstacle that you cannot overcome” — that blends poorly with the implicit injunctions to warm one’s hands on the blaze of her greatness. She likes to say things like, “I’m only interested in an art which can change the ideology of a society.” Her art, judged on that scale, shrinks further in size.
Ms. Abramovic was born in 1946 to well-off parents. They were war heroes, having fought the Nazis with Communists led by Josip Broz Tito, the Yugoslav revolutionary. While others scraped by in a difficult era, her parents had plum jobs and the family had a large apartment, a grand piano, maids, paintings, all the records and theater tickets and other privileges imaginable.Ms. Abramovic was born in 1946 to well-off parents. They were war heroes, having fought the Nazis with Communists led by Josip Broz Tito, the Yugoslav revolutionary. While others scraped by in a difficult era, her parents had plum jobs and the family had a large apartment, a grand piano, maids, paintings, all the records and theater tickets and other privileges imaginable.
There’s something unseemly about how consistently she complains about the awfulness of her childhood — her mother was cold, she claims, and mistreated her physically and emotionally. In a remarkable paragraph, she writes (the italics are mine):There’s something unseemly about how consistently she complains about the awfulness of her childhood — her mother was cold, she claims, and mistreated her physically and emotionally. In a remarkable paragraph, she writes (the italics are mine):
“When I was young, I thought our flat was the height of luxury. Later I discovered it had once belonged to a wealthy Jewish family, and had been confiscated during the Nazi occupation. Later I also realized the paintings my mother put in our apartment were not very good. Looking back, I think — for these and other reasons — our home was really a horrible place.”“When I was young, I thought our flat was the height of luxury. Later I discovered it had once belonged to a wealthy Jewish family, and had been confiscated during the Nazi occupation. Later I also realized the paintings my mother put in our apartment were not very good. Looking back, I think — for these and other reasons — our home was really a horrible place.”
Too bad about the Jewish family, but my mother’s taste in art was a real hitch in my stride.Too bad about the Jewish family, but my mother’s taste in art was a real hitch in my stride.
There are other passages in “Walk Through Walls” that will make readers rub their eyes in disbelief. At one point she writes about having to escape, in her childhood, the “tyranny of support.”There are other passages in “Walk Through Walls” that will make readers rub their eyes in disbelief. At one point she writes about having to escape, in her childhood, the “tyranny of support.”
In one of her better-known video pieces, “The Onion” (1996), Ms. Abramovic ate a raw onion while complaining about her life in a voice-over. (“I’m tired of changing planes so often … museum and gallery openings, endless receptions.”) In this shallow and misconceived memoir, she takes that onion from her mouth and places it in ours.In one of her better-known video pieces, “The Onion” (1996), Ms. Abramovic ate a raw onion while complaining about her life in a voice-over. (“I’m tired of changing planes so often … museum and gallery openings, endless receptions.”) In this shallow and misconceived memoir, she takes that onion from her mouth and places it in ours.