Marina Abramović is best known for her performance pieces, in which she tries to explore what is possible for an artist to do in the name of art. Her best known piece was the recent “The Artist Is Present,” in which she sat motionless for 736.5 hours over the course of three months, inviting visitors to sit opposite her and make eye contact for as long as they wanted. So many people began spontaneously crying across from her that blogs and Facebook groups were set up for those people.
Her bravest piece, however, is my favorite. This piece was primarily a trust exercise, in which she told viewers she would not move for six hours no matter what they did to her. She placed 72 objects one could use in pleasing or destructive ways, ranging from flowers and a feather boa to a knife and a loaded pistol, on a table near her and invited the viewers to use them on her however they wanted.
Initially, Abramović said, viewers were peaceful and timid, but it escalated to violence quickly. “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.”
This piece revealed something terrible about humanity, similar to what Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment or Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment, both of which also proved how readily people will harm one another under unusual circumstances.
This performance showed just how easy it is to dehumanize a person who doesn’t fight back, and is particularly powerful because it defies what we think we know about ourselves. I’m certain the no one reading this believes the people around him/her capable of doing such things to another human being, but this performance proves otherwise.
So I watched Jesse and Celeste Forever the other night. This little known film is totally making waves with me atm. I had a bit of a cry, on a topic I think almost every 20-30 woman coud relate to - losing out on love and being single, still thinking of what you lost with all those people in your past. And the crying isn't because you miss them, but becausse you're pissed at yourself for not wising up earlier about them - if you had tried harder, they could still be here with you and now you're like, FUCK. In the film, there are no bad guys and there are no good guys, it's just life, and sometimes you need to move on, this is what it's about. It's refreshing and raw and I like that, very much. Anyway, Rashida Jones is funny and beautiful and vulnerable and real and the film is equally funny and beautiful and vulnerable and real. Watch it! Every single friend in the movie can be likened to someone in your life - so please, do yourself a favour, grab a box of tissues and watch that movie. It's also hysterical in some parts. So worth it! And all the hipster references wont even phase you, 'cause it's that damn good.
If you wanna know if a movie is shit or not before you watch it, you can always rely on it's soundtrack for some reassurance, this one is no exception. This one's by Porcelain Raft called 'Drifting In and Out'.
Ah, Carnival, Brazil, so refreshing compared to dull conformist Auckland, sexual energy here is far from ripe. In fact, I think it's dead never to be resuscitated I question if it was ever alive at all. Sexual energy doesn't need to mean "leading to, or with the intent of intercourse"; sexual energy can be a movement, a conversation, a look, the weather, the heat, the smells, colours sounds and especially the attitude of a place - and no place encapsulates the sexual energy better than in Brazil at Carnival time. For me, Brazil has that perfect dichotomy of intrepid and homely - being from the tropics originally, it feels comforting and familiar, but it's still foreign enough for me to consider it exotic, which is what I love. The sound of it is so appealing - more than 72, 000 spectators crammed in the Sambadrome to watch samba, school floats dancers, and extravagant costumes during Carnival. And on top of that madness, millions of local block parties around the country consisting of the best kind of fun - drinking and dancing with locals just ripe to have a good time. Ok, so I've been getting itchy feet for a while, and upon viewing these pictures of Carnival 2013, my innate restlessness has been heightened. Scenes of Brazil through photographs and films have always led me to romanticize Brazil through a green/yellow filter where Caetano Veloso and Joao Gilberto would be crooning on Copacabana. Visiting Niemeyer buildings in Brasilia, god, that'd be ideal. But alas, any dreams of these will soon be threatened with the need to stay put and settle in one place for now until I can sustain and properly plan my great South American adventure, (including central america) - that will be one hell of a trip, I'm so excited. But in the meantime, I have these photos of Carnival and City of God to re-watch and hold off my itchy feet for a while yet. Hopefully when I do go, I'll have a reason to be there, more so than just exploring (which in itself, is a pretty fucking legit reason to go), something that drives towards something with a higher purpose. I hope - I always thought I'd live my life with all my actions contributing towards something higher, but it's taking time for me to reach that.
A reveler from the Vila Isabel samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.
A man paints a Carnival float sculpture at the Grande Rio Samba school in Rio de Janeiro, on January 22, 2013. It's from warehouses like this one that io's over the top glitz and glam Carnival parades emerge. The internationally renowned competition between 12 elite samba groups dazzles more than a billion spectators in person and on TV for two days, but it takes nearly a year and hundreds of workers, many of them volunteers, to pull each one together.
Revelers pack the streets during the "Cordao da Bola Preta" street carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, on February 9, 2013. According to Rio's tourism office, Rio's street Carnival this year will consist of 492 block parties, attended by an estimated five million Carnival enthusiasts.
The mythical jester figure who reigns over Carnival, King Momo, is represented by the the crowned and costumed Milton Rodrigues Junior who arrives for the official kick-off ceremony flashing a thumbs-up, in Rio de Janeiro, on February 8, 2013.
A performer from the Sao Clemente samba school sits as she waits before Carnival at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013.
(1 of 3) In this photo taken Tuesday, February 5, 2013, samba dancer and call center supervisor Diana Prado talks with a co-worker, in Rio de Janeiro. Although her hectic schedule of pre-Carnival preparations often requires her to apply her extravagant glitter stage makeup in the office bathroom, Prado insists being a samba dancer, or "passista," in Portuguese, doesn't undermine her authority with the 15 telemarketers she supervises.
(2 of 3) Samba dancer Diana Prado, right, in costume as she prepares for a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro. Though passistas are unquestionably the star attractions of the world's most iconic Carnival celebrations, they're not on the payroll of the samba school they represent.
(3 of 3) Passista Diana Prado performs in a carnival parade at central station in Rio de Janeiro. A call center supervisor by day the 27-year-old's double life is split down the middle, between the glitz and glam, feathers and body paint of Carnival and the workaday office reality of head-sets and cubicles.
Performers from the Inocentes de Belford Roxo samba school parade on a float during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
Revelers of the Unidos da Tijuca samba school participate in the annual carnival parade in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
Performers from the Unidos da Tijuca samba school parade during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.
Performers from the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school parade in Rio, on February 11, 2013.
A performer from the Academicos do Salgueiro samba school during carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013.
A dragon rises behind a performer from the Beija Flor samba school in Rio, on February 12, 2013.
Performers from the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school parade at the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.
Revelers from the Beija Flor samba school, in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.
Performers from the Mangueira samba school, at the Sambadrome on February 11, 2013.
A dancer from the Uniao da Ilhia samba school performs during the first night of Carnival in Rio, on February 11, 2013.
A masked performers from the Uniao da Ilha do Governador samba school, in Rio, on February 11, 2013.
A member of the Inocentes de Belford-Roxo samba school performs atop a float during the first night of Carnival in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
The Salgueiro samba school participates in the annual Carnival parade in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
Revelers from the Vila Isabel samba school participate in the Carnival parade in Rio, on February 12, 2013.
A woman poses for photos before participating in Carnival celebrations at the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013.
A performer from the Sao Clemente samba school is tossed in the air in the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.
Performers from the Academicos do Salgueiro samba school parade on a float in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
Members of the Mangueira samba school, during carnival celebrations in Rio, on February 11, 2013.
A performer from the Beija Flor samba school, at the Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.
Performers from the Inocentes de Belford Roxo samba school, on a float in the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 10, 2013.
A float from the Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel samba school in Rio's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.
Revelers of the Inocentes de Belford-Roxo samba school, in the Sambadrome, on February 10, 2013. Inocentes paid tribute to the 50th aniversary of South Korean immigration to Brazil.
A reveler from the Mocidade Alegre Samba School takes part in a carnival at Anhembi Sambadrome, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 10, 2013.
A performer from the Mangueira samba school, during carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013.
A dancer from the Nene da Vila Matilde samba school during a carnival parade in Sao Paulo, on February 9, 2013.
A performer from the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school, in the Sambadrome in Rio, on February 12, 2013.
A member of Academicos do Tatuape samba school, before the first night of carnival parade at the Sambadrome in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on February 8, 2013.
A performer from the Unidos de Vila Isabel samba school during Carnival in Rio, on February 12, 2013.
Performers from the Academicos do Grande Rio samba school, in Rio's Sambadrome, on February 12, 2013.
Drum Queen Camila Silva of the Mocidade Independente samba school, on the first night of the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome, on February 11, 2013.
Performers from the Portela samba school, during the first night of Carnival, in Rio de Janeiro, on February 11, 2013.
For me, this is the sound of Brazil - Cartola - Preciso Me Encontrar
The greatest victory has been to be able to live with
myself, to accept my shortcomings… I’m a long way from the human being I’d like
to be. But I’ve decided I’m not so bad after all.
So glad to be sharing my birthday with someone who's career and character I really admire: Christiane Amanpour. I wish I'd posted this earlier on my birthday, but alas, the ever present sloth got the better of me.
This is such a soulful rendition of 'Coconut Skins' by Damien
Rice. So lyrically beautiful. My favourite lyrics are:
"You can hold her hand and show her how you cry, explain to
her your weakness so she understands and then roll over and die.""You can lie between her legs and go looking for, tell her
you’re searching for her soul. You can wait for ages watch your compost turn to coal. Time
is contagious everybody’s getting old.”
"In the thundering rain, you stare into my eyes. I can feel your hand moving up my thighs." Ah 90s Janet Jackson, sounding so sublime in the background.
Even if the film turns out to be disappointing, we'll always have the trailer. Malick's trailers are always so rapturously inspiring (Tree of Life anyone?). The panning fluid cinematic shots, the connection to all things esoteric, the score, the dialogue. As cantankerous as he is, Malick's defining 'film experience' on his own terms. Ugh, I can't get enough of the dialogue in the trailer. I love his trailers which never fail to convey a longing, the poignancy in each moment - a glance, a smile, a laugh, the small moments that make up our entire lives, the moments some people wait forever for. These are the moments we remember, that we live and wait for; and like everything good and bad in this world, happiness in love is fleeting, but love always remains.
You shall love, whether you like it or not Emotions, they come and go like clouds Love is not only a feeling You shall love To love is to run the risk of failure, the risk of betrayal You fear your love has died It perhaps is waiting to be transformed into something higher Awake in the divine presence Which lives in each man, each woman Know each other in that love, that never, changes.
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