As part of my research for an essay that I will be writing on the museum and new media I was asked to create a journal of sorts to keep track of my research progress. The realisation of the journal is completely open to the students. Since my essay is about how internet and the web have changed the museum I find it quite appropriate to use the form of a blog for my journal. It meets the requirement of being able to be handed in (in printed form) at the end of the module for assesment and also makes great use of the possibilities new media has given us. Though I doubt many individuals will come across this page it nonetheless offers the opportunity to interact.
The following posts will be of mostly visual nature with some analysis on my part in preparation for the essay.
Earlier this year I visited the Lisson Gallery for the private view of their exhibition of Marina Abramovic’s work. The Lisson is split up into two buildings on slightly diagonally opposite parts of Bell St near Edgware Road. The work seemed to be categoried slightly by time. One building featured some of her photographic work and another focused more on her performance art. Although no performances were held there were videos and photogaphs of these along with explainations of her ideas and concepts of the performance. One very interesting part of the exhibition was a table which showcased an assortment of random items, including a gun. In the original performance “Rythm 0, 1974″ Abramavoc was just present without much action. She let the audience take any of the 72 objects and use them on her (in any way they chose!)
“The experience I learned was that…if you leave decision to the public, you can be killed.” … “I felt really violated: they cut my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach, one person aimed the gun at my head, and another took it away. It created an aggressive atmosphere. After exactly 6 hours, as planned, I stood up and started walking toward the public. Everyone ran away, escaping an actual confrontation.”
Although Helmut Newton is not neccesarily part of the Critical Concepts course he definatly deserves a spot as part of my visual research. Enjoy below.
