This September renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic and WePresent will present Traces: a multimedia sensory experience featuring five pieces that have inspired the artist’s life and practice.
Taking over London’s Old Truman Brewery exclusively on 10th – 12th September, WePresent will invite visitors to journey through Abramovic’s life as an artist presented as five unique experiences. Like an immersive time capsule, each room will stage an idea or object chosen by the artist herself that is endowed with symbolic significance, cultivated over 50 years.
“This experience marks the final phase in my collaboration with WePresent who have always been willing to look at new interpretations of my work and passions. From shining the light on extraordinary performance talents around the world; to bringing The Abramovic Method to people in such a unique way; to this, a free immersive experience showing 5 things that I believe we have to preserve for the future. From the astounding natural delight of the Rose of Jericho, to Susan Sontag’s crucial essay ‘Regarding the Pain of Others’; and where people will be able to experience my ‘Crystal Cinema’, and ‘10000 Stars.”
Marina Abramovic
Inspiring contemplation, connectivity and stillness, each room unites video works, soundscapes, manipulations of light, and thought-provoking editorial. The experience, for which Abramovi? will showcase two of her own works; Crystal Cinema (1991) and 10,000 stars (2015), intends to submerge visitors in the five treasures Abramovic would leave behind to preserve for future generations.
From the Rose of Jericho, demonstrating Abramovic’s faith in the power of life, her understanding of the cosmos captured in Van Gogh’s Starry Night, to her sensitivity to human pain cultivated by the works of Susan Sontag, Traces will offer a never-before-seen glimpse into the influences that have shaped Abramovic’s creative endeavours over decades. The installation will culminate with an interview with the artist herself recorded exclusively for the show.
Running concurrently to the physical installation, Traces will be available on WePresent as a digital experience for all to access for free worldwide. It marks the culmination of the platform’s year-long collaboration with Abramovi?. This hybrid experience follows Abramovic’s guest curatorship, where she was invited to spotlight five emerging performance artists, and the 24/7 digital manifestation of The Abramovic Method on WeTransfer, reaching 80 million people around the world.
Holly Fraser, Editor in Chief of WePresent said:
“Over the past year, WePresent has worked closely with Marina Abramovi? to bring her legacy to the digital realm in three separate projects, this being the final phase. As we look ahead to new beginnings following the pandemic, we conclude this special collaboration with a hybrid digital and physical experience that celebrates the artist’s creative process and inspiration. Using WeTransfer’s knowledge of design and media, we have brought her practice to millions of people around the world in a variety of ways, adding something new to the cultural landscape. We hope to inspire the general public and artists of tomorrow with the work and life of one of our most important living artists.”
Traces at Old Truman Brewery, London will be open from 10th – 12th September and will be available to view on wepresent.wetransfer.com. With limited capacity, tickets will be available to book on Dice from 18 August HERE.
About the Artist
Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abramovic has pioneered performance art, creating some of the form’s most important early works. Exploring her physical and mental limits, she has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation.
Abramovic was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2010, Abramovic had her first major U.S. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in “The Artist is Present” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Abramovic founded Marina Abramovi? Institute (MAI), a platform for immaterial and long durational work to create new possibilities for collaboration among thinkers of all fields.
Her most recent publication is Walk Through Walls: A Memoir, Published by Crown Archetype on October 25, 2016. Her retrospective The Cleaner opened at Moderna Museet, Stockholm in February 2017 and has toured to seven additional European venues, ending at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia in 2019. In September 2020 the Bayerische Staatsoper presented the world premiere of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, which will continue to tour to other venues in 2021. And she will soon present her solo exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, and become the first female artist in the institution’s 250 year history to occupy the entire gallery space with her work.
