Marina Abramović brings immersive opera to Pesaro, the Italian capital of culture
For the first time in the history of art it proposes a performance in a double dimension: physical and digital
ROME – The Italian premiere of The Life, the immersive work by Marina Abramović and Tin Drum, which for the first time in the history of art offers a performance in a double dimension: physical and digital. Taking part in the press conference at the Pescheria Visual Arts Center were the deputy mayor and councilor for beauty of the Municipality of Pesaro, Daniele Vimini, the artistic director of Pesaro 2024 – Italian Capital of CultureAgostino Riitano strong>, and Todd Eckert, director of the opera, founder and president of Tin Drum.
The Life is a unique three-dimensional cinematic experience, open to the public from 5 to 18 June 2024, at thePescheria Visual Arts Centre, in the heart of Pesaro, and part of the schedule of Pesaro 2024 – Italian Capital of Culture “The nature of culture”.
The mayor of Pesaro Matteo Ricci introduced the presentation: “Pesaro will once again be a protagonist in the world thanks to another great event that enriches the extraordinary year of the Italian capital of culture:The Life, by Marina Abramović and Tin Drum. A national first, one of a kind, which will allow the city and our entire province to keep the spotlight alive on the cultural, environmental, entrepreneurial, food and wine uniqueness of our territory. We look forward to seeing you in Pesaro!” commented Matteo Ricci, mayor of the Municipality of Pesaro.
“Art that creates an unprecedented space between real and virtual, goes beyond the boundaries of in-person performance and creates an authentic human connection between artist and spectator: The Life by Marina Abramović represents the essence of the research that he guided the path that led us to the year as Capital” underlines Daniele Vimini, deputy mayor and councilor for Beauty of the Municipality of Pesaro. “Much more than an immersive work, The Life is a profound reflection on nature and technology, body and memory. It will be a unique and extraordinary experience for all temporary citizens of Pesaro 2024!”
The Lifeis the first immersive mixed reality performance art event ever conceived. Presented at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2019, the work has crossed the world, coming to life in various cities, even reaching the milestone of a record auction sale at Christie’s London autumn event in 2020. Even before the globalized world experienced the forced isolation caused by the covid-19 pandemic, developing strategies to maintain one’s social connection, the artist asked himself the question of the dematerialization of the body and its transposition into a dimension disconnected from the here and now.
In Pesaro the immersive event debuts with an expanded guise, enriched with original costumes and acoustic elements designed to invite a reflection dedicated to the nature of memory, where the The artist passes through different worlds and crosses time and space.
These are the words of the artist Marina Abramović in the video message: “It is a great honor to be invited to Pesaro 2024 – Italian Capital of Culture. I will present with Tin Drum my new mixed reality work entitled The Life. I know that Pesaro Capitale is focused on the relationship between science, nature and technology; my work is based on the performing arts and this is my first experiment, my first attempt to use new technologies and to broaden the idea of how the performing arts can be seen in the future, if the artist is no longer physically present”.
The Life, created by Marina Abramović and produced by the studio specializing in mixed reality Tin Drum and directed by founder Todd Eckert, is an immersive work that accompanies the visitor on a journey with a ritual flavour. Each participant is invited to get rid of any electronic device and to wear an augmented reality viewer, through which to visualize the boundaries of an empty room. At the center of the virtual environment moves the hologram of the artist Marina Abramović, whose performance can be observed by the public freely and from any angle. The absence of barriers and screens provides the opportunity to grasp new points of view, living a one-of-a-kind experience together with the artist.
The work reflects on the power of art as a non-tangible force, resulting from the encounter between the artist and the collective energy of the people involved in the work. Marina Abramović’s digital image allows the artist to create a performance without being physically present, creating a space that oscillates between real and virtual and going beyond the boundaries of in-person performance to fully enter the symbolic territory of memory.
Director Todd Eckert explains: “In a hundred years, when everyone who knew Marina Abramović is dead, there will be people who will watchThe Lifeand, yes hopefully, they will feel that sense of connection – of human experience. This is really the point of the work: to try to create an authentic human connection between artist and audience beyond the simple observation that dominates our current media.”
The Life invites us to confront the ideas of absence and duration, addressed through the positioning of the artist in a dimension beyond the time. The work, which comes to life in a horizon of the eternal present, puts the spotlight on the possible intersections between technology and artistic action, while cultivating the human connection that is created between artist and spectator.
Explains Agostino Riitano, artistic director of Pesaro 2024 – Italian Capital of Culture: “By hostingThe Life in the cultural program of Pesaro 2024, we take on the task to give the community paths for reconnaissance and promotion of the artistic languages that will mark our time. Abramović is one of the greatest representatives of contemporary aesthetic practices, in particular those that from the 1980s to today have proposed some of the most complete, as well as complex, forms of questioning and provocation: the centrality of the body and of the consciousness of the body and of performing art is aimed at breaking down the barriers of genre, category and division between knowledge. We are convinced that among the profound meanings of being the Italian Capital of Culture is becoming the center of attraction and driving force of theories and practices useful for building a new vision and new ideas of the future.”
The immersive event is open to the public every day from 5 to 18 June, from 10.00 to 23.00, in the spaces of the Pescheria Visual Arts Centre. Entrance is available by reservation through the website vivaticket.it or at the following locations: Centro Arti Visive Pescheria (corso
The project is enriched and completed by the conversation open to the public between Marina Abramović and Todd Eckert, scheduled for Tuesday 18 June at 9.30 pm at the Rossini Theatre. The meeting sees the artist and the director explore the genesis of The Life and the implications that the work brings to light during an open debate. Tickets are available from June 12 on vivaticket .it, at Tipico Tips or at the Rossini Theater ticket office.