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RIP V.C Harris
October 10th, 2017Famous theatre artist, film critique and academician V C Harris passed away. He was currently the director of School of letters of Mahatma Gandhi university. He was under the treatment at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital after he had met with an accident took place on October 5. The syndicate decision to remove Dr. V C Harris from the director position was dismissed due to the students’ protest of August. He had his education from SN College Kannur and Calicut University. He also worked in Farook college Kozhikode.
An alarm to the temperature rise – Thasni Salim
September 22nd, 2017Along with the reports of global warming scientist frequently ask a question to the human kind and to themselves, what happen if all the snow of the globe melt? In an assumption the average sea level will rise by 7metres. Just imagine Kuttanad the rice cultivating location of Kerala is 2. 2m lower than sea level. Kollam is only 3 m above sea level. Cochin the queen of Arabian sea is on the height of sea-level. The beautiful Maldives has a height of 2. 4m above the sea level. What about our beaches.
Situation of the poles are getting worse day after day. Scientists discovered that the ice sheets of Greenland are getting darker by the presence of algae. These dark coloured algae absorb more light and accelerate the melting of ice in Greenland. The reasons for the growth of algae over these sheets are due to the rise in overall atmospheric temperature.
Now, The ice melt in Greenland add a rise of 1mm in the sea level and the algal growth may speed up the process in north pole. The algal growth is discovered in Antarctic region also is an alarming warning to the researchers and the earth inhabitants.
It is in the month of June scientist discovered the ever largest ice shelf start melting and drifting of iceberg from the North Pole. The iceberg has a size of 2500square km. The trillion ton ice burg larger than many of the world’s major metropolitan cities is known by the name A68. This was not a clear single cut but make a lase network of cracks which has a length of more than 200km. The split of such a huge mass will disturb the condition of entire peninsula. And a small change of Antarctic Peninsula can make changes in the global climatic condition. The iceberg was separated from the Larsen C shelf. By this single crack 10% of the Larsen C shelf was removed.
Ice shelves act as a wall that prevents the floating of ice on water. When an ice shelf melt there is no sticking force to hold them and the glaciers speed up. They are necessary for the balance of icebergs. The melting of these ice shelves are called as ice calving.
The attention of scientist shifted to the polar region by the end of 20th century. It was in 1995 on the largest and important ice shelf of Antarctica; Larsen A collapsed marking a rise in global sea-level. Larsen B shelf was removed by 2002. Algae were first observed on the Greenland ice sheet more than a century but no one is bothered about their potential effect. Only in the last few years researchers started to explore how the microscopically small plants could affect future melting. The algae darken the ice sheets, absorbing more solar energy and fasten the melting.
The reason for the melting of iceberg is the rise in global temperature. There are certain melty points in every in every mass of ice. The heat melts these melty points and creates a crack and iceberg separate from this point. The glaciers trap various microbes and gases beneath their surface. The melting leads to the release of huge amount of methane gas which is the most dangerous among the greenhouse gases. Also the melting of ice can mark an increase in temperature can accelerate the rate of ice calving. As per the inferences of experts rising temperatures will allow algae to flourish not only on the slopes of the narrow margins of the ice-sheet but also on the flat areas in the far larger interior where melting could happen on a much bigger scale.
The small amount of ice calving is enough to harm millions of coastal inhabitants of the world and billions of ecosystem can get destroyed forever. The melting of glaciers added 8inch rise to water level. This will become 10-13 inches if the Larsen C shelf is melted down. Larsen C, which is 10 times the size of Larsen B and is the fourth biggest ice shelf of Antarctica peninsula, could eventually follow in its neighbour’s way. Though the surface melt is less it is not possible to predict the pattern of the ice calving in this varying climatic situation.
Racism in Show biz – Thasni Salim
September 11th, 2017The ghost of British colonialism is still wandering through Indian sub continent. The British who consider Indians as slave because of their complexion left India before 7 decades but its effects are still visible in many sectors especially in show biz.
The national award winner and one of the finest actor of Bollywood Nawasuddin Siddiqui recently posted on twitter saying that he felt colour discrimination in Bollywood industry. On his tweet he explained that “Thank you for making me realise that I cannot be paired along with the fair and handsome because I am dark and not good looking, but I never focus on that”. Many actors including Tapsee Pannu, Nanditha Das and Tannishtha Chatterjee supported him and responded the post.
The whole discussion started with the statement of casting director of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Sanjay Chouhan, Nawazuddin’s upcoming release, said in an interview that he couldn’t cast “fair and handsome” people with the actor. Chouhan’s statement suggests that even in 2017, actors are cast based on their skin tone rather than their performances.
Looking back to 2013, the Bollywood film Ranjhanaa starring the south Indian superstar Dhanush with the ‘fair and cute’ Sonam Kapoor make a murmuring in theatres. The society obsessed with this fair concept than the talent can never accept the talented and National award winner that time.
The society had a feeling that only ‘fairness’ can make a person successful in film industry. Many talents who wished to become a star got demotivation because of their colour and sometimes had to face insults.
The show business which is one of the most engaged and expensive field of business handles crores and crores of rupees each hour. But the country where colour is sold in each point, this field is also not different. From big screen to mini screens, from advertisement to cut-out we search some thing which is fair in complexion. May be this the reason for the actors of our ads are imported from other countries. The colour is a matter not only in Bollywood but also in major subsectors of film industry in India. The colour sense is very prevalent in advertising sector. The promotion and sale of beauty products and indulging a sense of colour in the minds of audience is one of the major contribution of advertising industry.
The society where colour of skin is dominating over talent many persons will discourage from achieving their dreams. The change in the basic attitude of the society only can make a change here.
From racism to sexism, every dirty business is accused over this colourful industry. The superheroine Anushaka Sarma recently commented on an interview that the heroines had to remain young and fair to stay in the industry. Else they will get dumped. “Men can work as long as they want to even when they’ve aged. They’re still amazing and cool. And I have no problem with that. But why is that women are only okay when they’re “young and desirable”? There’s a sexual connotation attached,” Anushka commented in an interview. Few years before she made a similar comment about sexism in Bollywood.
The actors who can be paired with much younger actress and the actress in her mid 40s had to play the role of old ladies or as supporting roles are also read along with Anushka’s comment.
The industry is passing through a transition period these days. Many female centric films receive huge audience support. Kangana Ranaut, Priyanka Chopra, Vidhya Balan, Manju Warrior, Jyotika, Sreedevi etc came out with female centeic films and the nation accepted this whole heartedly. But in majority of the films the women are aimed at cheering the ‘super human’ heroes.
There should have a serious consideration on these accusations. The time we live should be a period of transformation. The real talent should be identified and encouraged based on their capability not on their age or colour of the skin.
‘Argumentative Indian’ exposes the nonsense arguments of Censor Board – Praveen Pilassery & Thasni Salim
August 26th, 2017Central Board of Film Certification’s (CBFC) decision to not permit Suman Ghosh’s much expected documentary ‘Argumentative Indian’ shows new heights of cultural emergency that India is going through. The documentary is on Prof. Amarthya Sen, Indian economist and philosopher and proud of all Indians. As the author of several theoretical papers and books including ‘The Argumentatve Indian’ (2005), Prof. Sen has laid out his unique stand on various events happening around. The documentary film is shot as a free flowing conversation between Prof.Amartya Sen and his student Prof. Kaushik Basu, a well known economist presently a faculty member at Cornell University.
The “Argumentative Indian”,was originally scheduled for a release on 14th July. It has been made over a period of 15 years from 2002. Various issues related to development, social choice, political scenario etc. were discussed in the film. There are references about contemporary political issues too. The CBFC asked the Director Suman Ghosh to mute words like ‘cow’, ‘Gujarat’, ‘Hindu India’ and ‘Hindutva’ from his film. But he challenged this. Suman Ghosh informed that the film will be released on internet without any ‘cuts’ in a couple of months.
Amartya Sen was awarded Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for his contributions to welfare economics. As a responsible social scientist, he observed and expressed his opinion about many contemporary issues. More than a theorist, he actively engineered many progressive ideas. He is a hardcore critic of Hindutha and slashed ‘Gujarat model’ publicly. In a country like India where binaries co-exist, the theories and opinions of Prof.Amartya Sen is always valuable.
A documentary is an actual creation of a person, event or place to provide real information. Then how can a person or group of persons deny permission to express? The activities of the censor board clearly indicate that no person can criticize or go against the interests of the Government and they are not permitted to use words that reduce the glamour of the NaMo government.
This is not an isolated issue anymore. The censor board recommended twelve cuts in Madhur Bhandarkar’s forthcoming “Indu Sarkar” as well as suggested guidelines for movies like ‘Lipstick under my burkha’ and ‘Jab Harry Met Sejal’. On October 2016, the makers of the film ‘Udta Punjab’ and Censor board entered into a legal fight in removing certain scenes from the movie. The movie portrays the drug selling in the state of Punjab and CBFC’s review committee suggested a whopping 89 cuts in the film, including deleting all references to Punjab and its cities, politics, elections and violations of expletives. Producers of the film moved to Bombay High Court seeking a copy of the order of Censor Board Review Committee report on the film. The revising committee changed the number of cuts required to 13. The actors Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhut got IIFA Award for best actor and actress for the performance in the film later.
It was in last June, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had denied censor exemption to three documentaries dealing with the JNU protests, the unrest in Kashmir and on the suicide of Rohith Vemula during the month of June in the 10th International Documentary and Short Film Festival of Kerala (IDSFFK) organised by Kerala Chalachithra Academy. The Unbarable Being of Lightness directed by P.N. Ramachandra revolves around the iconic Shopcom, the shopping centre at the University of Hyderabad, the epicentre of student protests following the suicide of Dalit scholar RohithVemula. In the Shade of Fallen Chinar, directed by N.C.Fazil and Shawn Sebastian, capturing Kashmir Valley few days before the current cycle of unrest. Exploring the lives of a group of young Kashmiri artistes who are also university students, the film talks about what inspires their art and how art takes the form of resistance in a conflict-ridden valley. March March March, directed by Kathu Lukose, tracks the student protests at Jawaharlal Nehru University last year and their aftermath, documenting the factors that prompted the massive student uprising and the national/anti-national binaries were engendered in the aftermath.
It was in November 2016, NDTV (a prominent and self opinionated Indian news channel) suspended for a day for broadcasting a report against security attack in Pathankot. In June 2017, NDTV CEO Pranoy Ray and his family had to face CBI investigation for “causing an alleged loss to bank”. NDTV is one of the few liberal-leaning voices in Indian media industry which is increasingly dominating by hyper nationalists like those in Times Now and Republic TV.
Right to expression is our fundamental right. This soul of Indian constitution is questioned by authorities like CBFC. Those politically appointed in these powerful positions are behaves as the ‘correcting force’. Shanta Gokhale in her article responded to the issue as ‘we live in a pretend democracy where yes-men are promoted and no-men are arrested’. The censor board acts as an authoritarian board and try to inject agendas on the minds of people. It is unfortunate that CBFC found illegality in the release of ‘Argumentative Indian’ trailer on the facebook page of Suman Ghosh; whereas releasing content in digital media do not need any such certification.
But in a digital age, what is the purpose of censoring? CBFC must incorporate the recommendations of Shyam Benegal committee which emphasised that its role is only to certify films and not to censor. Though the screening of films and documentaries are prevented and censored by the authority they can do nothing with the digitally published contents. Such controversial ones receive wider reach and appreciation by the generation who find and use digital contents easily and flexibly.
70 children succumbed to death due to lack of oxygen supply in Gorakhpur Medical College Hospital in Uttar Pradesh – Thasni Salim
August 13th, 2017It is tragic to hear that more than 70 children died within a week in Gorakhpur’s Baba Raghav Das Medical College due to lack of oxygen supply in the emergency wards. The rate of deaths continued to increase every hour even after the situation reported worse by the media. The government failed to function properly to check the issue behind the tragedy. The reports say that the lack of oxygen supply in the hospital occurred as the dues were not paid on time to the supplier
The BJP government under the leadership of Yogi Adithyanath is under severe pressure after this incident. It is to be mentioned that this tragic incident happens in the constituency where Chief Minister Yogi Adithyanath represents in the Loksabha. The government denied the allegation and argues that the deaths are caused not due to the lack of oxygen supply but to various medical conditions.
“Deaths due to oxygen shortage would mean a despicable incident,” said the Chief Minister, adding the role of the oxygen vendor will be probed. Raids were conducted at a Lucknow-based firm that had stopped supply of oxygen to the hospital because previous bills were not paid.
Majority of the death reported from the Acute Encephalitis Syndrome and Japan Encephalitis treatment wards. The major reason for the spread of this deadly disease is lack of hygiene (the authorities say that majority of death are due to encephalitis not oxygen deficiency). It is the State’s responsibility to ensure a hygienic surrounding for a new born.
Thirty children died in the hospital within first 48 hours. Among these 17 children died in neonatal ward. The hospital authorities deny ambulance services to carry dead bodies of the children to their homes. The dead bodies are being taken away on motorbikes, autos and jeeps. Many children died in the encephalitis ward. But the argument that the deaths are due to medical condition is neither accepted by the relatives of the dead nor by the public.
This tragic incidence happens in UP, where government launched ambulance service for cow and the people are threatened to face legal consequence if have killed a dog. No moral grounds will offer an escape to the Government as it happened due to its unpardonable negligence in providing basic needs even in a medical college. But authorities blame each other for the delay in payment. Also it increases the confusion of common man as the dead bodies are sent away without conducting autopsies. It is pointed out as the government’s witty try to hide the truth behind the incident.
The non-ruling political parties in UP criticised that the negligence happened as the Yogi’s government was busy with the action plan to reinforce ‘love for mother country’. They point out that the government is busy in observing the welfare of cow, anti- romeo squads, observing Independence Day celebrations in Madrasas etc. They question the ability of the government to provide the basic needs to the people.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and others visited the hospital and demanded the resignation of state Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh. “Heart-wrenching incident. Saddened by children’s death. This happened due to state government’s carelessness,” Mr Azad told reporters outside the hospital.
In the midst of the tragedy, the doctor who acted quickly to take over the situation needs to be addressed. Dr. Khafeel Khan a paediatrician tried his maximum to save the lives of as many as children possible. Dr. Khafeel, Head of Encephalitis ward recognised the emergency situation by the deficiency of oxygen in the pipeline. The oxygen cylinder vendors are not ready to supply oxygen until the dues got paid. The pathetic situation could be managed only for 2 hours by the usage of emergency cylinders. He arranged few cylinders from nearby nursing home run by his friend. But it was not sufficient. He collected cylinders from other nearby places. On leaving the hospital he instructed junior doctors to handle emergency situation. He also bought cylinders by cash payment from the vendors and paid the transportation fair to truck from his own pocket. His presence of mind and immediate response save the life of many.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed the death of over 30 infants in BRD medical college in Gorakhpur through a press conference in Lucknow. He said that the incident was very unfortunate and that he was glad that the media highlighted it. “I had started the fight against Encephalitis in Gorakhpur. My thoughts are with grieving families,” he said at the presser. He also added that anyone found guilty will not be spared.
But it is ironical to hear, that Yogi Adithyanath suspended Dr. Khafeel for the kind action he took to save the lives of innocent children.
The BJP Government in Utter Pradesh denied the right to live to innocent 70 children. This serious human rights violation is not expected by a Government in a democratic country. The tragic incident had poured water on India’s enthusiastic history of child care and development.
Can a misbehaviour compensated by money? Minors stamped on their face with an entrance stamp in Bhopal Jail – Thasni Salim
August 12th, 2017Rakshabandan is one of the prominent ritual celebrated by Hindu community in India. In every rakshabandan the brother promises his sister that he will protect her every second. The gift of the brother is a token of love, care, and attachment. We Indians used to take the same pledge in every occasion that “all Indians are my brothers and sisters”. But this year the Indians witnessed one of the worst actions by the prison staff of Bhopal. Two minors; a boy and a girl were stamped by the prison staff on their face with an entrance stamp on the same rakshabandan day. And for our surprise, this happened during the celebration of brotherhood.
The children went to jail with their mother to visit their father lodged in bhopal central jail. The officer in charge in the jail stamped on the face of the children by ‘mistake’!. The staff used to stamp on the palms of the visitors to distinguish them from others. The Madhya Pradesh human rights commission took a suo motto cognizance against the jail officer.
The image went viral in social media and it invited the attention of authorities on the issue. The officer stamped not on the face of the children but on the face of Indian democracy. How huge the crowd is the visitors on the jail, how can a responsible person stamp on the face of children ‘by mistake’? The incident is well enough to lower the confidence of the victim children and weaken them emotionally and mentally. They are given a compensation of ten thousand rupees. Can a misbehaviour compensated by money?
India; 6 months after demonetisation – Thasni Salim
July 10th, 2017The people of India were not aware of the word demonetization earlier. But now the word is familiar as any other simple word for Indians. On November 8th the Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that the currencies of 500 and 1000 won’t be valid from the midnight. Let us discuss the situation of post demonetized India after 6 months?
The scientific analysis and the common sense, both reports the situation is becoming worse day by day. The Gross Domestic Production growth for Financial Year (FY) 2016-17 came in at 7.1% from the previous year growth of 8. And further it is to fall down to 6. 1 % in the first quarter of 2017-18. While gross domestic product (GDP) growth was 6.1%, gross value added (GVA) growth – a metric that more economists now favour as it excludes indirect tax collection – slowed even more sharply in the fourth quarter to 5.6%, compared to 6.7% in the third quarter. This statistics is declared by the central government itself.
But the government negate to agree that the demonetization is the prime reason for the growth slow down. “It would be difficult to state whether this [demonetisation-caused slowdown] is causal. All policy decisions by the government have some effect on growth rate. Demonetization is one of them. It is not so straight forward to link third quarter and fourth quarter GDP numbers to demonetization. Other dynamics should be kept in mind too,” Anant the chief statistician said.
The demonetization move was heavily criticized as poorly planned and unfair, and was met with protests, litigation, and strikes. The government put forward demonetization as a surgical move to fight against black money, counterfeit currencies and benami dealings. The two currency denominations 500 and 1000 constituted the 86% of the total circulated amount. The government gave 50 days time to exchange the currency notes. The common man’s days shifted from work place to queues. They had to stand hours in lines to change their nullified currency notes. But neither the reserve bank nor the central government haven’t yet given the details of the nullified currencies. Do the ministry who always called for digital transactions and cash free currency is arguing that the currency is not counted yet?
India is an agriculture based economy. Due to the currency crisis, the farmers, especially small and marginal who largely depend on cash to buy seeds, fertilizers and to pay for sowing, borrowing water for irrigation and for other related agriculture equipments remained worst affected and for the reason majority could not complete successful cropping. The farmers of Tamilnadu organised in Jantar mantir in Delhi with living mices and skulls. They have held live mice in their mouths, shaved half their heads, worn women’s traditional saris, made wounds in their hands and rolled bare-bodied on boiling hot road on street and conducted mock funerals.
The protests spread across India and the farmers of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamilnadu protest for a vivid solution for their financial crisis. This year marked a record production in agricultural sector. But the farmers are unable to repay their loans or purchase enough seeds for cultivation or manure.
The Indian villagers mainly depend on currency than digital transactions. The demonetization made the lives of common people more miserable. The state of Maharashtra reports highest number of farmer suicides between 2014 and 2015. Between 2014 and 2015, the State witnesses an 18 per cent hike in the suicide rate; from 2,568 to 3,030.
It is to be noted that on the day of third anniversary celebration of Modi government, five farmers were shot dead, by the police in Madhya Pradesh. But unfortunately, even the national media gave no attention to the news since they were busy discussing the ban of beef slaughter. This should be doubted for a conspiracy. The BJP government is keen over managing allegations against them. They have well managed press for the promotion of the Government.
Why the government want media to discuss about beef which is purely a sangh parivar agenda? There may be three reasons, one the government wish to hide the the slow down of financial growth in the nation over the Gujarat model development which the Prime Minister used to fuss about. Secondly, the beef slaughter controversy would veil the death of farmers in the agrarian protests in Madhya Pradesh. Thirdly, they can purposefully avoid the chances to discuss the government’s inability to control the gow rakshaks who attack minorities and Muslims.
Tail piece: The month of July the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Israel, and become the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Israel. The change in non alliance movement by extending hand towards Israel and recently grown friendship with America are building tensions in the minds of minority Muslims. Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had declared many actions directly against Muslims and it creates much insecurities in their minds. Arrest of Dalit leader, Chandrasekhar Ravan and death of many Muslims in the name of cow creates discontent in the minds of people. Not in my name campaign and Muslim lives matter hash tags circulates fast among dissatisfied youth.
David Grossman and Jessica Cohen won the Manbooker International Prize 2017
June 19th, 2017David Grossman the Israeli writer and his ttranslatorJessica Cohen won the Man Booker International prize for his comedy novel A Horse Walks Into The Bar. Grossman become the first Israeli writer who won the prestigious award. Grossman and Cohen shared the award money of £50, 000.
A Horse Walks Into The War is a comic novel which depict the life of a stand up comedian who perform at a small Israeli town. The crowd headed into the comedy club for a relaxed evening but they have to confront with an erratic, charming and repellent comedian. He exposes a wound he has been living with. The audience can’t leave or cannot drive him out of the stage. The novel tells the betrayal between lovers, treachery of friends, and guilt demanding redress.
Nick Barley the chair of the judging panel said that Grossman had “attempting an ambitious high wire act of a novel and pulled it off spectacularly…… The character is challenging and flawed, but completely compelling. We were bowled over by Grossman’s willingness to take emotional as well as stylistic risks: every sentence counts, every word matters in this supreme example of the writer’s craft. “
David Grossman was born on 25th January 1954 in Israel. He started his literary career in late 1970’s. His books have been translated to more than 30 languages. Grossman is the first Israeli writer who won the prestigious Man Booker International prize. He studied Philosophy and Theatre at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Grossman is a left wing activist who wishes for the end of conflict between Israel and Palestine. He severely opposes spread of Israel settlement in Palestine region. He addressed the Israel Palestine conflict through his book The End of the Land.
Jessica Cohen who translated the book was born in England and brought up in Israel. She is also the translator of the Judas of Amoz Oz who was nominated for Man Booker International prize this year.
The shortlisted writers for Man Booker prize of 2017 are Amoz Oz for Judas, French writer Mathias Ernard for Compass, Roy Jacosen of Norway for his book The Unseen, Danish author Dorthe Nors for Mirror and Argentina’s Samantha Schweblin for her work named Fewer Dream. Each shortlisted author and translator automatically receives £1,000. This is only the second year that the prize has been awarded to a single book. Before 2016, the Man Booker International was awarded every second year to an author for their entire body of work.
The Israeli daily ‘Times of Israel’ reported that Jessica Cohen will donate half of her prize money to an Israeli human right organization B’Tselem which operates in Westbank.
Last year the Man Booker prize was awarded to the Korean writer Hang Kan for the book The Vegetarian. David Grossman was awarded with various International awards including St. Louis literary award, JQ wingate prize, Emet prize, Bernstein prize etc.
Rhythms realizing the Limits: the Life of an Unusual Performer – Thasni Salim
June 6th, 2017The art whether performing or exhibiting; holds the emotions sentiments and creativity of the person whom it creates. The performers had the choice and selection of their medium and the emotion it carries. Marina Abromovic` is an artist who chose a different medium for a different purpose and this selection marked her in the history of performing arts. Abramovic’ chose her body as a medium to demonstrate her installations through which it become possible to bring a connection between spectator and performer. She was called as the “grandmother of performing arts”.
From Neglected Childhood to Expressive Venice:
Marina Abramovic’ was born on 1946 in communist dictatorship of Yugoslavia. Her father left them at her childhood and her mother turned very strict. Though she got support for her artistic interest. On her later teenage she explored the venues outside Yugoslavia and attended biennales of Venice. She had her education in arts from various art schools of the country.
Marina Abromovic` always preferred to walk through different ways from the very beginning stage of her artistic career. Most of her works were lengthy and incur her own life. She always challenged the emotional stability of the Spectator. Marina considered the performing art as a sacrifice, ritual or a religion. She told once that, “to me the pain and the blood are merely means of artistic expression”. Marina displaced herself from the conventional method of sculpture and artwork, she chose her body as the medium to communicate with the world. She never put any limits for the usage of her body and mind and never put her leg back due to the effect created by the performance.
Expression of self: The Rhythm series:
During early 1970s the world was waiting for the performance of Marina Abramovic’. From 1973-74 Marina did five performances in rhythm series. The first one of the series include ‘Rhythm-10’ in which she adapted a Slavic game called ‘Five Finger Fillet’ where she placed her hand on a table and stab the knife back and forth between fingers in an increasing speed. She got cut and wounds, bloodsheds and severe injuries. She increased the risk by using 20 different knives of various shapes and size. Marina placed a tape recorder on the floor and recorded the sound created by the movement of the knife. It lasted for an hour and finished performance only after the usage of each knife twice.
She commented, “I take the first knife and stab in between the fingers of my left hand as fast as possible. Every time I cut myself, I change the knife. When I’ve used all of the knives (all of the rhythms), I rewind the tape recorder. I listen to the tape recording of the first part of the performance. I concentrate…”
In 1973 she performed ‘Rhythm-5’ which she considered as a failed attempt. In ‘Rhythm-5’ she used a five pointed communist star wit wood and wood carvings, later she soaked it with hundred litres of petrol. As a representation of crucification she paced around the star. Abramovic’ cut her hair and paced through the burning altar and fed bunches on the burning fire. Then she cut her fingernails, then toenails and did the submission as a sacrificial offering. After offering her body offerings she entered into the star and then he laid on the floor. Soon she lost her consciousness and two viewers removed her from the pose. But Abramovic’ got disappointed by the audience intervention. This performance made her realise the limitations of her body and this limits are showed in the upcoming rhythm series.
In 1974 she came out with ‘Rhythm-2’ in which she took the drugs intended to treat catatonia and schizophrenia and filmed her response in front of the audience. It lasted for six hours. It was a planned loss of control over her. The performance had two parts each of the splits of her experience between ingest of the pills. The two medicines indicated by the number ‘Rhythm-2’. Abramović sacrificed herself both psychologically and physically while still maintaining an active mind. The first part she had medicine used for the treatment of acute catatonia. Within few minutes Abramovic’ lost control over her body but her mind remains active. On second part he had a medicine which is used to cool down schizophrenic patients and soon lost her control and the sense of identification. It took five hours to diminish the effect of the medicines on her.
The ‘Rhythm-4’ lasted for forty five minutes is also a question to the limits of the body. She nakedly kneels down alone on a small room with a high power industrial fan. She captured the visuals and projected to the audience on the other room. The proceeded to the industrial fan and tried to breathe in as much possible. Soon she became unconscious. Abramovic’ took steps to avoid the intervention and asked cameraman to zoom in to her face as much as possible. But after few minutes of unconsciousness the cameramen called the staff to help her.
The most famous one among Marina Abramovic’ performance the ‘Rhythm-0’, is a challenge to the division of audience and performer by calling their participation. She placed seventy two different objects on a table. She pasted a poster stating that” I am the object, during this period I take the responsibility”. The things she placed include perfumes, sugar etc. which can be used for pleasure, the razor blade, nails etc. which can cause pain, a gun and a bullet. By placing such deadly object Abramovic’ placed herself in the hands of fate. The performance lasted for six hours from 8pm to 2am. First three hours of the performance the audience where not participated. She started staring into the free space and the audience became aggressive. Someone made a cut using the razor blade and drank her blood, someone wove a throned rose on her neck, finally someone placed a loaded pistol on her hand pointing on her chest and this marked the ending on the programme.
Meeting the Right Partner Ulay and Later Performances:
In the year 1975 she met the German born artist Frank Uwe Laysiepen – known as Ulay. Abramovic’ moved with him and they were in artistic collaboration and lovers for next 12 years. They travelled, performed and learned different things from different parts of the world. They travelled across Europe in a van, lived with Australian Aborigines, and in India’s Tibetan Buddhist monasteries, and spent time in the Sahara, Thar and Gobi deserts. Their works got presented in various gallery spaces of Europe.
The collaborated works of Abramovic’ and Ulay include Imponderabilia (1977), in which they stood naked in a narrow doorway, forcing spectators to pass between them; Breathing In/Breathing Out (1977), in which they inhaled and exhaled from each other’s mouths until they almost suffocated; Relation in Time (1977), involving them sitting back to back with their hair tied together; Light/Dark (1977), in which they alternately slapped each other’s faces; and Night sea Crossing (1981-1987), a performance in which the pair sat silently opposite each other at a wooden table for as long as possible. Rest energy was a performance which started only for a few minutes but redefined the words trust and faith. It is also a highly intense piece that revealed the fragility of the line between life and death. The pair stands face to face and placed an arrow on tense bow just inches away from heart. They also placed a microphone on chest to make the heartbeat audible and its variation in growing danger.
When the pair decide to move away they did it as a performance. They started a walk from different ends of Great Wall of China, walked for three months met at the middle and say adieu.
After their separation Marina Abramovic’ did collaborated work with other artist and by herself. The Balkan Baroque was such a performance which shows her regret to war and the loss of life in war. She sat over the bloody bones on cows counted 1500 wearing white dress and cleaned those bones. It continued for four days with six hours a day. Surrounded by the images of her family and herself, the description about the method of killing rats in Balkan, some folk songs etc. The performance progression was made visceral due to the unbearable heat of the basement room and fetid smell. A similar one named “Reminiscent of Cleaning the Mirror #1” in which she sat on a stool for three hours cleaning a skeleton.
“The grandmother of performing arts” Marina Abramovic’ is someone among the artist who devoted their entire life for performance even in this late ages. She is a pioneer of performance arts and a reference for all those who portray the limits of the body. Her works uses female body of hers helped to develop a new sector of the performing art called feminist arts; through her confrontations with the physical self and the primary role given to the female body have helped shape the direction of that discipline. In her young ages the facility to record and store the performance was not very easy and common most of the works were not preserved and their recreation in its full essence is impossible and she argued continuing her life of these performance through recreations. Her commitment to giving new life to older performance works – both hers and the works of others – led her to create the Marina Abramović Institute for Preservation of Performance Art, set for a 2012 opening, in Hudson, New York. This non-profit organization will support teaching, preserving and funding performance art, ensuring an enduring legacy for her performances and, more broadly, for the ephemeral art form itself.
