Ulay & Marina Abramović: Modus Vivendi (1985)

“Between 1980 and 1985, the performance artists Marina Abramović and Ulay collaborated on a series of works in which art, life, aesthetics and ethics combined to create a unified whole. Their performances explored the way the body and mind reacts to extreme situations.

This exhibition was the first to present a wide selection of works by the two artists, from the very start of their partnership. A part of this selection comprised photographs documenting the artists’ journeys through Australia, the US and Asia, where they staged a number of performances with the involvement of the local indigenous peoples. Among these are Conjunction and Positive Zero (both 1983), which examine the relationship between western society and the rituals performed by other cultures. From 1984 to 1985 the two artists produced Modus Vivendi, a series of works shot on Polaroid in which they acted out male and female archetypes.

One of their most important performance pieces is Nightsea Crossing (1982): the artists faced each other for seven consecutive hours and engaged in a psychological battle in which their aggression and competitiveness was sublimated to the point of passivity. Many of the duo’s performances investigate the notion of the symbiotic relationship and the overcoming of one’s own subjectivity, in a situation of balance/imbalance between two opposing forces.” (Source)

Catalogue of the exhibition Modus Vivendi: Works 1980-1985 held at the Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 14 Sep – 13 Oct 1985; Koelnischer Kunstverein, Cologne, 20 Oct – 17 Nov 1985; and Castello di Rivoli, Turin, 18 Apr – 8 Jun 1986. With an essay by Thomas McEvilley.

Prepared by Jan Debbaut
Publisher Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, 1985
95 pages
via Bint Bint

WorldCat

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