Marina Abramović's Seven Easy Pieces: Critical Documentation Strategies for Preserving Art's History

Abstract

This essay raises issues of authenticity, authorship and medium in a discussion of performance, documentation and re-performance. Its object of analysis is Marina Abramović's 2005 performance series, Seven Easy Pieces, including her re-performances of Bruce Nauman's Body Pressure and VALIE EXPORT's Action Pants: Genital Panic. Seven Easy Pieces strives to document the past through manipulation of repetition and temporality; Abramović's re-performances act as performative documents of the past performances she cites. Lessons learned from a close analysis of re-performance and performance documentation can provide useful insights for and promote critical thought about conservation strategies for time-based art.