London: Marina continues to surprises the world once again with a revolutionary idea as she goes digital. Abramovic famed for her endurance performances, questioning of physical and mental boundaries and intimate interactions with gallery visitors, appears as an augmented reality avatar in a new show in London’s Serpentine Gallery.
In “The Life”, visitors don special spatial computing headpieces allowing them to view a 19 minute performance by 72-year-old Abramovic as they move through the gallery.
“I like to radiate from my own body certain energy to the viewer. So that’s what I want, that kind of connection which is really material because I am there and not there at the same time,” said Belgrade-born Abramovic.
“If I can really achieve this that means my performance doesn’t finish with, with my physical body but can also actually exist in a virtual body.”
Over 30 moving cameras were used to create the avatar and it took 10 hours of footage to process a minute of the performance. Abramovic’s endurance performance 512 Hours drew almost 130,000 visitors to the Serpentine in 2014.
Iconic performance artist, Marina Abramovic, has always highlighted the use of performing art as a visual concept. Combing various aspects of sound, photography, video and sculptures in her mesmerising performances, she has created art that is not only unique but delves deep into the concepts of pain and transformation on the spiritual and emotional planes.
