Installation at De Appel
23 March - 8 April
ARTZIEN, Vol. 1, No. 6 April 1979
A Monthly Review of Art in Amsterdam
This exhibition of Abromovic and Ulay at de Appel consists of a double
installation of new work and a video tape of a performance done at the
Brooklyn Museum in New York on May 13, 1978. It is a concise and direct
statement, without flourish, almost zenlike in its simplicity.
I was present at the performance of "Charged Space," the piece being shown
on video tape, and it was interesting to see it from a new perspective
almost one year later. The situation was a very large gallery of the museum
where huge super realistic paintings hung on the walls. Many of the
spectators present were other participants in the European Performance
Festival which had been coordinated by Jan Brand and Sharon Avery. It was an
excellent space, and the acoustics were acute. Marina and Ulay began facing
each other, holding hands with arms outstretched. Barefoot, they began
moving in a circle, slowly, carefully, staring directly into each other's
eyes. The speed of their circular movement increased over three or four
minutes to almost a spin, the centrifugal force pulling their bodies away
from each other as their hands grasped tight. Marina breaks away and falls
to the floor and Ulay tell her to "move." Marina and Ulay are now moving and
turning independently, each commanding "move" as they spin and weave in the
space. They fall, crawl, set up again, move, spin and shout "move." The
observers, who were mostly at one end of the gallery, are almost completely
motionless. About ten minutes into the performance a low murmuring is
audible while Marina and Ulay continue to spin and fall and shout their
demand to "move." As Ulay's demand to "move" became more intense there was a
noted discomfort and questioning among those watching. It was interesting to
see so many performance artists questioning their movement. It began with a
gentle shuffling among them from one foot to another. Weight and
counterweight. Ulay falls to the floor again, his head resting against a
wall. His command to "move" becomes more rapid, shouting every three seconds
as Marina goes into an exhausted spin, falls, rises, spins, falls and
finally remains motionless, panting on the floor. She rises, and walks off.
The installation on the first floor of de Appel consists of a single grey
wood propeller spanning the width of the room. Fixed to a motor at its
center it turns constantly at a fairly rapid pace. The speed is fast enough
to defy intervention. It threatens and beckons at once. There is an
immediate challenge when confronting it.
Upstairs, in a darkened room, a film is screened on the wall at the
far end. You watch Marina sitting nude and tranquil behind Ulay who,
also nude, is laying down on the floor. Ulay is breathing very deeply,
his ribs and lungs expanding and contracting with great effort. His
penis is full and erect, moving with the rhythm of his body. You
realize shortly that this is a film loop, the movements repeating
themselves.
Movement, tension, time and space. A timelessness reaching for
another dimension. Situations created to help free your mind so that
you may also reach out. Repetition -- everything is constantly
changing -- the repetition never comes full circle, but moves in a
spiral infinitely. Everything always is, always was, and always will
be. Abromovic and Ulay are trying to show us this most simple fact of
our existence, our way in this universe.