A 1929 theater now being used as an indoor tennis court in Hudson, NY will be converted into a performance art center named after Marina Abramović who once cut a star into her stomach with broken glass. (Take that, Iggy Pop.) But don’t expect her to reenact past performances at the (coming soon) Marina Abramović Institute for the Preservation of Performance Art (MAIPPA), like the time she was burned when she accidentally lost consciousness inside a flaming star. Abramović envisions the space (to open in 2014) as a laboratory – for other artists and audiences to experiment and learn. Visitors must sign a contract that says they’ll stay for six hours. Good thing the designers (Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas of OMA) are designing special “long durational” chairs” (half wheelchair, half massage chair) for those who need to rest after exploring their physical and mental limits.
No doubt Ms. Abramović will raise the $15 million needed to complete the renovation. She posed for Givenchy’s Spring 2013 ad campaign (with Kate Moss), photographed by the fashion house’s creative director Riccardo Tisci, who just bought Abramović’s half of the Soho townhouse ($3M) they have shared (platonically) for years. A Tisci photograph of Abramović (yes, wearing Givenchy) will also run on the cover of the popular fashion-art magazine Dust. She was interviewed there by Greg Gorman, a portrait photographer of Hollywood celebrities.
Abramović and Tisci in Paris, 2012, photo: supermanandsupermodels
