as Soon as Possible / Performance Loop

The Class of Marina Abramovic is the name of a group of young artists at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste of Braunschweig (Germany) formed under the guidance of Marina Abramovic, famed for her body art and considered one of the most important exponents of performance art over the last thirty years. Abramovic has taught at Braunschweig since 1997 where she transmits her performer experience and knowledge to students through lessons, workshops, shows and debates. One of the objectives of her teaching is to support and help young students at the academy to become professional artists by creating opportunities for them to present their work in shows at galleries, museums, kunstverein and theatres.

The Class of Marina Abramovic will present “As soon as possibile. Performance loop”, a series of “living installations” at the Padiglione d'Arte Contemporanea of Milan on 6th and 7th June 2003. The term “living installations” refers to performances of long duration which employ different media and techniques where the body is the basic means of expression, the underlying common denominator that unites the different poetics of each performer.

Visitors will be able to move around the PAC exhibition space, while it is open to the public and to watch these young performers as they simultaneously perform their “living installations”. The PAC will thus become the site of a collective event without precedent, bearing no comparison with a traditional exhibition, a live and active experience for artists and spectators alike.A different programme will be presented on each of the two days.

The project presented by the Padiglione d’Arte Contemporanea is part of the art programmes by Jean-Hubert Martin for 2003. It originated with a recent experience of The Class of Marina Abramovic group at the Spazio Viafarini of Milan. The success that the event has already enjoyed in experimental form, its innovative character and the current interest in performance art, led Spazio Viafarini to propose a new edition of the project to the PAC which will now present it on a larger scale in a public places/space in the city. The event will also present an opportunity to recall the fame and the fundamental role played by Marina Abramovic in the history of performance art on Saturday at 4.00 p.m. at the meeting between Marina Abramovic and Jean-Hubert Martin when they will dialogue with the public on the subject of performance. A documentary video on other performances given by the group will also be on view to the public.

After Milan, two more prestigious appointments await The Class of Marina Abramovic: the group will be present at the Venice Biennial with a collective performance of the show “Recycling of Future” (produced by the Consorzio Venezia Nuova and by the Facoltà di Design e Arti) and subsequently on 27th June, at the Fridericianum Museum of Kassel.

as Soon as Possible / Performance Loop
The Class of Marina Abramovic
Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig

Design: Marina Abramovic
Koordination: Melati Suryodarmo
Produktion / Organisation: PAC Mailand; Associazione VIAFARINI

mit Anna Berndtson, Oliver Blomeier, Ivan Civic, Amanda Coogan, Yingmei Duan, Nezaket Ekici, Franz Gerald-Krumpl, Eun-Hye Hwang, Lotte Lindner & Till Steinbrenner, Daniel Müller-Friedrichsen, Declan Rooney, Iris Selke, Anton Soloveitchik, Dorte Strehlow, Melati Suryodarmo, Irina Thormann, Heejung Um, Susanne Winterling, Herma Auguste Wittstock, Viola Yesiltac