I must admit I was rather sceptical about going to see Marina Abramović’s latest attempt at performance art. I had lost a little bit of faith in her as an artist, when she appeared to compromise her morals by appearing in Jay Z’s latest music video back in 2013. However her most recent performance at the Serpentine Gallery proved utterly groundbreaking.
After queuing in the 26 degree heat in Kensington Gardens for almost an hour, we were finally let in. We were told to put our bags and watches in lockers and to be absolutely silent within the space. At this point, I had absolutely no idea what to expect, and felt surprisingly nervous. These feelings, coupled with a sense of anxiety were aggravated even further on initially arriving into the space. On walking in, I immediately look for Marina. I see her nowhere and wonder whether that’s the joke of the exhibition, that she doesn’t actually bother showing up. Instead, I find a group of people with their backs against the wall looking into the centre of the room at another group of people who are stood on a stage with their eyes close. Some are in an almost trance like status. Finally, Marina appears, and shortly after a guy approaches me takes me away by the hand and leads me to a chair. He puts headphones on my ears, blocking out any sound and tells me to close my eyes. This only adds to my anxiety.
Not long after, we feel brave enough to check out the rest of the space and discover there are two more rooms. In the first, people are walking across the room at the slowest speed known to man, holding hands, with there eyes closed. It’s kind of like a pagan ritual gone wrong and feels slightly awkward, so we go off to explore the other room. This one holds around 30 camp beds, great start. On entering we are escorted to one of the beds by another performance artist. We are given head phones and tucked up in a blanket. It feels surreal, but at the same time incredibly comforting. We lie here for what seems like forever, in a perpetual state of bliss with no idea of time or what is going on around us. At one point I feel the reflection of a figure in front of my bed. I look up and the figure is Marina’s who smiles at me and tells me to close my eyes once again. It’s a magical moment.
On waking, we walk back into the main room and find that we have have lost the fear that had plagued our experience initially. We stand around with our backs against the wall, until Marina approaches my friend and I and leads us over to the central stage. She asks us to close our eyes and to switch off, so that we can give all of ourselves to the experience. We stay here for another undocumented time frame and then walk once more to the back of the room. Marina comes over again, and asks us what we thought of the show. She tells us about her aim for the project and what she hopes people will get out of it. It’s another magical moment and I can’t believe this is happening, it feels so cool and exclusive, but at the same time so natural.
What is even cooler is just how delightful and sincere Marina actually was. She had a very warming and charming persona and genuinely wanted us to experience the exhibition in the way she had initially intended. We were incredibly lucky to have Marina herself as a sort of constant mentor for us throughout our time at the exhibition. I think its because she could sense the fear in us initially and wanted us to give everything we had to experience the energies and the surrounding presence of the other bodies. We certainly felt it.
On leaving the exhibition, I felt like I had just done a hardcore mediation session. I felt calm and content and walked with a swing in my step. I can’t quite explain it and the fact that I can’t, makes it so special. It’s something you have to live through yourself. Give it your all and you will get everything from it that you deserve. In implicating our bodies in our experience and connecting them to others, it allows for a great feeling of liberation and contentment. We shook Marina’s hand and had a few parting words with the artist before finally leaving the exhibition. What a perfect ending to an overwhelming and intense ‘exhibition’. I dare you to go.