Marina Abromovic & Clothes

Captivatingly frightening and fascinating.
When you're scared but can't bear to peel your eyes away. That would be my first take on her work.

I wonder if she has any part of her or her body that she feels self-conscious about. Maybe the highs she get during her pieces and performance state prevent self-consciousness? So much nudity and vulnerability, not just in terms of her body - there must be some awareness, right? Obviously, I am not the woman herself, but I cannot even fathom those experiences or attempt to understand them from perspective. Like almost everyone out there, performance art to me was something... less substantial? Perhaps because it is hard to understand, we put it off as something only the performers and critics and comprehend.

I personally like clothing too much (not a huge a fan of my body) to entertain the concept of that much nudity. Having my own 主见 since the early years, I really dressed however I wanted until my father introduced the idea that clothes weren't just an individual expression - they are a presentability thing. He may have told me this because I put on a lot a bit of weight and dressed in the same sweater everyday in middle school (and in general looked like a shitty mess). I then started wearing things that a). I really liked and b). I wanted others to know that I liked. Even if you "don't care about what you look like," the image you give through your choice of attire can tell something about you. And that's fine - some people's style is tshirt+jeans all year round. But even with just tees and blue jeans, there exists a wide variety of combinations and people. Clothing gives you character, and mine is that I like my clothes to be unique (in respect to each other, not in I-want-to-be-unique-from-everyone-else-and-hipster-nonsense). I don't like having too many of the same thing (underwear and denim material (not jeans) not included). This way each article of clothing has its own history, taste, and partners. Sometimes this makes it hard for me to come up with new arrangements, but the combinations that I do have are ones that I go to frequently. I just like clothing and dressing up and knowing that clothing is quite powerful in terms of shapes, texture, impressions, comfort, GAH I JUST LOVE CLOTHES.

I could just talk about clothes forever.

Clothing designers often talk about who their label or current seasonal line is for - man or woman or girl of certain qualities and personalities. Many times they like to fabricate little bits and specific details about the lives of their imaginary muses. I don't think that I've ever really met anyone who completely understood (not even appreciated, I'm not that hopeful) my collection, but I know that I never really took anyone's opinion to be as important as my own. I know that this means a lot of ensembles will be misses or failures in the eyes of others, but my ignorance is my bliss. Let it be noted that sometimes when I take chances [i.e. 2010: harem pants, 2009: animal print maxi dresses, 2011: combat boots and fishnets], and things turn out okay.

Eventually.