Marina Abramović: In Residence | Facilitator | Mel Baveas

Facilitating Marina Abramović: In Residence

24 June – 5 July 2015 | Pier 2/3, Walsh Bay, SydneyKaldor Public Art Projects — Project 30

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Being selected as a facilitator for Marina Abramović: In Residence was something I never expected. I was a young artist from Sydney College of the Arts, surrounded by established performance practitioners and artists with professional experience, including people connected with NIDA. I had been developing long-duration, process-based work and was deeply passionate about performance art, particularly the work of Mike Parr, but I still felt very much at the beginning of my practice.

The interview and selection process was surreal. To be included in Marina's project—and to be given the opportunity to work within such an important performance-art context—felt extraordinary.

The environment at Pier 2/3 was unlike anything I had experienced. The space was completely silent. We were not allowed to speak. 

As facilitators, we wore headphones and moved through the space, quietly guiding visitors through a series of exercises drawn from Abramović's performance practice. There was slow walking, sustained eye contact, observation, counting rice, and periods of lying and resting on beds. Visitors were invited to slow down and become intensely conscious of their own presence.

The silence was particularly powerful for me. Without conversation, distraction or the usual social exchanges, I became acutely aware of the body, the gaze, breathing, movement and the passage of time. I had to learn to simply be present.

The eye-gazing exercise became one of the most profound experiences. I sometimes sat opposite people for three or four hours, looking directly into their eyes. Some people seemed completely absorbed, almost as though they had disappeared somewhere inside themselves. Others looked into my eyes and began to cry. We often exchanged no words, but I could feel the emotional intensity of these encounters.

Another exercise involved counting rice, drawing on Abramović's interest in repetitive and meditative actions. Rather than simply counting, I began making drawings with the rice, finding my own way into the exercise through repetition and material attention. We also placed visitors into beds, assisting them into a position of rest and stillness.

These activities drew on different aspects of Abramović's performance language—duration, repetition, endurance, stillness, concentration and direct human encounter—and brought them into a participatory environment where the audience became part of the work.

I also remember one extraordinary moment when Marina herself came up to me and hugged me during a performance. I had been taking the role very seriously, completely absorbed in the work, and that unexpected gesture has stayed with me.

Looking back, the most important thing I took from the project was presence. The enforced silence and sustained attention gave me something I didn't realise I needed: the ability to stop, concentrate and remain with another person without needing to fill the space with words or distraction. It became a life skill that I continue to practise and try to master today.

For a young artist coming from SCA, the experience was transformative. I was incredibly lucky to have been given that opportunity so early in my career. It strengthened my commitment to performance and durational practice and changed the way I understood the relationship between artist, audience, body and time.

I remain deeply grateful to Kaldor Public Art Projects for giving me the opportunity to experience performance in this way.