Marina Abramović walks China’s Great Wall only to break up
June 18, 2022

Marina Abramovic – The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk (still), 1988/2008, performed for 90 days along The Great Wall of China. 16mm film transferred to two-channel video

Marina Abramović’s & Ulay’s preparation for the project

Artists Marina Abramovic and Ulay are known in many parts of the world as the lovers whose relationship ended at the Great Wall of China.

Initially, when the couple planned the trip, they intended to get married at the center of the wall. However, it was years later when the couple finally acquired all the authorization required from the Chinese government and were able to raise funds for the project.

Sadly, by then, the couple’s 12-year relationship has crumbled, and what started as a marriage celebration turned into last goodbyes for the couple.

The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk

Abramovic would start walking the wall from the east, while Ulay would start from the west. It would take three months for the couple to meet in the middle, where they would break up and go their separate ways. The couple titled the piece The Lovers.

The couple had planned to be the first people to walk the entirety of the Great Wall. However, they were beaten to the punch by a Chinese railway clerk.

Why does this work matter?

The piece is still talked about today because it was tragically poetic. Throughout creating the project, both the subjects must have experienced tremendous levels of emotion and intimacy levels.

The pair had shared a certain level of intimacy when the project started. However, by the end of it, that intimacy had to be dissolved, which was done with an affectionate hug. The fact that the project was profoundly emotional and physically tasking made it more impactful and meaningful.

Analysis

Because of the piece, audiences were forced to evaluate how geography and temporal distance can affect life. This piece, which was performed in 1988, helped to unbound the limits of conventional theatrical practice.
The Lovers turned out to be pioneering, passionate and extremely powerful. The couple’s extraordinary relationship, which lasted from 1976 to 1988, will live on forever.

Aftermath

Since the release of The Lovers, both artists are well known in many parts of the world. However, it is Abramovic that has managed to attain critical acclaim. Her 2010 retrospective at the MoMA in New York helped to consolidate her status in the world. This, and an HBO documentary, celebrity friends such as Lady Gaga and Jay Z, as well as a series of commercials, have allowed her to become a household name.

Ulay, on the other hand, continued with art. The pair was the subject of controversy once more after disagreeing about profits from their collaborations.

Artists Marina Abramovic and Ulay are known in many parts of the world as the lovers whose relationship ended at the Great Wall of China. Initially, when the couple planned the trip, they intended to get married at the center of the wall. However, it was years later when the couple finally acquired all the authorization required from the Chinese government and were able to raise funds for the projected. Sadly, by then, the couple’s 12-year relationship has crumbled and what started out as a marriage celebration turned into last goodbyes for the couple. The couple had planned to be the first people to walk the entirety of the Great Wall, however, they were beaten to the punch by a Chinese railway clerk.

(extracted from publicdelivery (dot) org/

The Lovers, The Great Wall (Marina Abramovic & Ulay, 1988-2008).mkv

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Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 4 min
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Video
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https://nitro.download/view/5916AD926100FF4/The_Lovers,_The_Great_Wall_(Marina_Abramovic_&_Ulay,_1988-2008).mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:None

The post Marina Abramovic & Ulay – The Lovers, The Great Wall (1988-2008) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

About the performing body and how it affects viscerally the people who confronts it, looks at it and participates in the transcendental experience that is its primary affect. The ceremonial and meditative are the common responses to the weeklong series of performances that took place in November 2005 in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. From an art event to a social phenomenon, the seven performances became the talk of the town because it created among the visitors a sense of sublimation like prayer. The film attempts to reveal the mechanisms of this transcendental experience by just showing the performer’s body living the events inscribed in each pieces with details that outline the body fragility, versatility, tenacity and unlimited endurance.
—Babette Mangolte

Marina Abramovic - Seven Easy Pieces (2007).avi

General
Container:	AVI
Runtime:	1h 32mn
Size:	975 MiB
Video
Codec:	DivX
Resolution:	720x400
Aspect ratio:	16:9
Frame rate:	23.976 fps
Bit rate:	1 299 Kbps
Audio
2.0ch MP3 @ 160 Kbps

https://nitro.download/view/F6C5A6A69B3834E/Marina_Abramovic_-_Seven_Easy_Pieces_(2007).avi

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English (used only for a song of the sixth performance)

The post Babette Mangolte & Marina Abramovic – Seven Easy Pieces (2007) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Synopsis:
Director Francesco Carrozzini creates an intimate portrait of his mother, Franca Sozzani, the legendary editor-in-chief of Italian Vogue. From the ridiculous to the sublime, her astonishing but often controversial magazine covers have not only broken the rules but have set the high bar for fashion, art and commerce over the past 25 years. From the legendary “Black Issue” and the “Plastic Surgery issue” Sozzani remains deeply committed to exploring subject matter off limits to most in order to shake up the status quo and occasionally redefine the concept of beauty. With interviews from Karl Lagerfeld, Bruce Weber, Baz Luhrmann, Courtney Love and many others, Carrozzini gives us a behind the scenes glimpse into his mother’s creative process as well as peek into her vulnerabilities both past and present. Deeply insightful and often emotional this film is like a love letter from a son to his mother.

Franca.Chaos.and.Creation.2016.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DD+5.1.H.264-iKA.mkv

General
Container:  	Matroska
Runtime: 	1 h 19 min
Size: 	4.16 GiB
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Resolution: 	1920x1080 
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Frame rate: 	23.976 fps
Bit rate: 	7 132 kb/s
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Audio
#1:  	English 5.1ch AC-3 @ 384 kb/s

https://nitro.download/view/894A784189A9BEE/Franca.Chaos.and.Creation.2016.1080p.NF.WEB-DL.DD+5.1.H.264-iKA.mkv

Language(s):Italian, English, French
Subtitles:English, Spanish, French, Polish, Portuguese (muxed)

The post Francesco Carrozzini – Franca: Chaos and Creation (2016) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

A probing portrait of Chris Burden, an artist who took creative expression to the limits and risked his life in the name of art.

Burden.2016.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H.264-Coo7.mkv

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Runtime: 	1h 30mn
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https://nitro.download/view/5106B53A408F741/Burden.2016.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H.264-Coo7.mkv

https://fikper.com/zp35Lxw1fp/Burden.2016.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H.264-Coo7.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English

The post Timothy Marrinan & Richard Dewey – Burden (2016) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Quote:
This film originated from my readings of the One Thousand And One Nights. But unlike the Arabian tales, my stories are all from real life, though at times they too wander into somewhere else, beyond the everyday routine reality.

There are some twenty-five different stories in my movie. Their protagonists are all my good friends and I myself am an inseparable part of the stories. The storyteller of the Arabian Nights was also part of his or her tales.

Some of the people in the movie you’ll recognize, some not. The fact that some of them you’ll recognize has no bearing on the stories: after all, we all recognize John Wayne or Annette Bening, but in their stories they are no longer the people we know.

The subjects of the stories cover a wide range of emotions, geographies, personal anxieties, anecdotes. These are not very big stories, not for the Big Screen: these are all personal big stories… And yes, you’ll also find some provocations… But that’s me, one ‘me’ of many. The very question “What is a story?” is a provocative question.

2.22GB | 1h 51m | 768×576 | mkv

https://nitro.download/view/76B6A37EE1D757F/Jonas_Mekas_-_(2011)_Sleepless_Nights_Stories.mkv

Language(s):English
Subtitles:English, German, French, Lithuanian

The post Jonas Mekas – Sleepless Nights Stories (2011) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Relation Work, 1976-1979: 14 performances
Contents: Relation in space — Talking about similarity — Breathing in, breathing out — Imponderabilia — Expansion in space — Relation in movement — Relation in time — Light/Dark — Balance proof — AAA-AAA — Incision — Kaiserschnitt — Charged space — Three.

Performance art pieces illustrating art in confrontation with life and the individual versus the universal by early performance artists, Ulay and Marina Abramovic. 1996. 148 min.

violent. infuriating. hypnotic. arresting.

the isprobably the single most important collection of historical performance art

quality is acceptable. 14 performances.

2 1/2 hours long

1.65GB | 2 h 28 min | 640 x 480 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/90257FCEAD31C10/Abramovic_Ulay_Relation_Work(1976-1979).mov

Language:English
Subtitles:None

The post Marina Abramovic & Ulay – Relation Work (1976 – 1979) first appeared on Cinema of the World.

Art must be beautiful, Artist must be beautiful.

Freeing the voice

Freeing the memory

Freeing the body.

Galerie Mike Steiner, Berlin, December, 1976.

54 min.

624MB | 53m 32s | 640*480 | avi

https://nitro.download/view/0409BA4588DABE7/Marina_Abramovic_4Performances1975.avi

Language:English
Subtitles:None

The post Marina Abramovic – Four Performances (1975-1976) first appeared on Cinema of the World.