Why Did a Controversial Artist Choose Public Orgasm as Performance—and Call It “Terrible”?
Image credits: Fashion Neurosis
Just like Acconci did more than three decades earlier, Abramovic was unseen by the public throughout the whole ordeal, which made her feel isolated and trapped.
“The problem for me with this piece was the absence of public gaze—only the sound,” she said. “But I heard that people had a great time; it was like a big party up there!”
The 79-year-old has built a career on controversial performances that make full use of her body in intimate ways
Image credits: Fashion Neurosis
For instance, in 1974 she participated in Rhythm 0, a performance that had her stand still for six hours while gallery visitors were invited to use any of 72 objects on her body, including knives and a loaded gun.
Around that time, she also swapped roles with a s*x worker in Amsterdam’s red light district in a piece titled Role Exchange.
“It was my first time in Amsterdam and my first time to do a performance there,” she told Freud. “I asked her to go to the gallery and be me, and I sat in the window and became her.”
Image credits: Marina Abramović Institute
The s*x worker’s only instruction for Abramovic was for her to “never go below her price,” as it would, in her words, “ruin her business.” Interestingly, the artist jokingly remembers how she ended up doing that regardless due to being able to attract only two clients that night.
“She said to me that I would starve if I were a prostitute because I don’t have any talent for that role,” she recalled, laughing.
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