Nietzsche, Kafka, and Marina Abramovic

I first brought up Marina Abramovic a while back in class, and I plan to discuss her work again during my class discussion. I first learned about her and her performing art pieces during my junior year of high school, and her pieces still haunt me. Because many of her pieces are linked to the individual, society, and connections between people, I think that she's very relevant to both Nietzsche's and Kafka's works.

In particular, her Rhythm series (Rhythm 10 in 1973, Rhythm 5 in 1974, Rhythm 2 in 1974, Rhythm 4 in 1974, and Rhythm 0 in 1974) is evocative for me.

Through these performances, which I recommend looking up because they really are strange and fascinating and scary, she not only explores her physical limits but also how far an audience is willing to go during a performance, especially if they don't expect any consequences for their actions. Abramovic's performances span the spectrum from Rhythm 0—where she said that she was an object that anyone could do anything to do for six hours—to The Artist is Present—where anyone could sit across from her for a minute and look in her eyes in silence. These two performances show a sharp contrast of what people will do and what they desire. Abramovic explored the violence and danger of group think and objectification in Rhythm 0, but she showed the public's thirst for connection and being seen in The Artist is Present.

Known as the "grandmother of performance art," I think that Nietzsche and Kafka would have been fascinated by her pieces, especially Kafka. Her career began in the 1970s, and, like Nietzsche and Kafka, I think that many of her pieces have come before their times; her over 40 year career ushers in a new phase of performance art. Her pieces explore the limits and endurance of her body, comment on the individual and society, and explore the relationship between the audience and the artist. Many of her pieces also involve different senses.

I look forward to discussing what we all think about performance art and Marina Abramovic, especially related to "A Hunger Artist" and Nietzsche and Kafka's writings.