Archive | Art Matters

The Gaze of Marina Abramović

the gazeTo experience the work of performance artist Marina Abramović is to step outside of the time-space continuum. That’s how she likes it, I think, and that is why we flock to her unblinking gaze. This was most literally true at her “The Artist Is Present” show, which exhibited at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in the spring of 2010 and to date may be the most famous performance art piece of this millennium. In it, she took over the museum’s atrium and, adorned in a floor-length dress of wool and cashmere, sat eight hours each day in an armless chair as she silently held the gaze of every visitor who sat opposite her. Continue Reading →

The Cat Lady Is Present

beleaguered kittyI’m on Day 3 of Marina Abramović immersion for a piece I’m writing about her new memoir, Walk Through Walls. She is a thorny, intriguing subject, and I feel both stuck and manic as I write and write and delete and delete. To ground out the fever the Artist has conjured in me –the Liser-sized warp in the time-space continuum– I keep scooping up poor Grace, who is cowering in her special rocking chair. While she protests with her newly acquired “Noooooo” meow, I say: “THE PERMAKITTEN IS PRESENT.” There is only one amused member of my household today.

New Moon Justice

Big Moon by Shara HughesIt’s not just because I have moon in Libra that I love moons in Libra, but it doesn’t hurt. The deepest parts of me longs for harmony and justice, and so often these desires live in direct conflict with each other, especially with that orange shadow looming over the American horizon. Today’s new moon in Libra—arriving exactly at 5:11 PM—sits with Jupiter, which manifests on a grand scale the core of everything it touches. Given that Libra is ruled by Venus, we honest to goodness have a terrific chance to manifest peace, love, and understanding during the month to come. So take a few moments at 5 o’clock and meditate on what beautiful change might look like—for you, for the people you love, for the country you inhabit. Venus is the planet of connectivity and beauty; Jupiter is the planet of wise expansion. Let’s be the change we see in the stars. Art credit: Shara Hughes.

"All, everything I understand, I understand only because I love."
― Leo Tolstoy