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'I’ve never done anything like this in my life': Marina Abramović on making art with balloons
The artist’s latest swerve sees her creating an alien inflatable landscape for New York’s Balloon Museum
TL;DR
- Marina Abramović's new installation "Snowy/Windy/Spring on Planet Z" is featured at the Balloon Museum in New York.
- The Balloon Museum is described as the "first permanent home for inflatable art" and aims to blend playful experiences with traditional art.
- Abramović initially found balloon art kitschy but saw resonance with its temporality in relation to her performance art practice.
- The museum's "Daydream" exhibition includes works by artists like Martin Creed, Karina Smigla-Bobinski, and Onionlab.
- Other notable installations mentioned are Thom Kubli's "Black Hole Horizon" and Boris Acket's work involving a fabric wing and mirrors.
- Abramović's installation forgoes mirrors, focusing on disorientation and a personal soundscape to create an alien, timeless experience.
- The 79-year-old artist sees this as an opportunity for the public to have a direct experience of presentness.
- Abramović compares taking on diverse projects to Renaissance artists commissioned by patrons, valuing the challenge of creating masterpieces within strict parameters.
- The Balloon Museum director, Roberto Fantauzzi, positions the institution as being "completely in the middle" between entertainment and art.
- The author reflects that while the museum was fun and evoked wonder, the levity dissipated upon leaving, leaving them unchanged.