having a cup of coffee breaks up a day... marina abramovic interpretes the artist espresso cups for the illy collection ..................................................
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marina abramovic's coffee cups coffee cups transformed in a piece of art. marina abramovic interpretes the latest series of of the illy collection. designboom visited the presentation in milan on --- september 20, 2001 marina abramovic's motivation '...while I was working on these cups I have been thinking a lot about my past and how much it was important for me when I was living in yugoslavia the ritual of drinking coffee. the entire day was devided by this ritual, take a rest - it was a kind of situation where people sit silently round the table, enjoying the moment. we are afraid of time spent reflecting, doing nothing or being alone...' '...my grandmother, every friday, covered the table with an old newspaper, she drank coffee with me and turn up the cup upside down to dry... how impatient I was, looking forward to the moment when she would take my cup and look into my future. the leftovers in the coffee cup became the whole universe...' '...and now my own made coffee cups are in front of me, reminding me how important it is to find time to ritualize our daily lives...' what is the illy artist espresso cup collection? starting from 1992, over the years, illy, the renowned italian expresso company, has asked many artists to express themselfs on expresso coffee cups. http://www.illy.com http://www.tasses-d-artistes.com who designed the cup? the (white) cup was designed by matteo thun in 1992. http://www.matteothun.com see also the designboom interview [matteo thun] who is marina abramovic? abramovic has described herself as the 'grandmother of performance art'. she works through various mediums such as performance, video, film, photograph, object and video installation. pursing relationship between the bounds of body and the possibility of spiritual energy, abramovic often employs her biographical elements and representation of body as social metaphor for her work. her early performances were a form of rebellion against her strict upbringing as well as against the repressive culture of tito's post-war yugoslavia. like all her work, they were ritualistic purifications designed to free her of her own past. in the performances, abramovic pushes the boundaries of physical potential using such elements as ice, fire, corporal punishment and objects. of that generation of artists of the early 70s who chose performance as a means of expression, abramovic is probably the one still most active today - and among the most successful. in 1997 she showed the video installation and performance 'balkan baroque' at the venice biennale - herself scrubbing animal bones - and received the golden lion award for best artist. in her recent works, abramovic shows an interest in the spiritual quality of various materials. the works are designed to invite the viewers to participate in situations like 'healing', 'meditation' and 'waiting'. see the clip quicktime clip (316 kb) marina abramovic's short biography marina abramovic was born in belgrade, serbia, in 1946. lives and works in the the daughter of yugoslavian partisan parents. 1970 graduated from the academy of fine arts, belgrade; 1972 postgraduate studies in zagreb; since 1976 lives and works in amsterdam, netherlands. professor at the academy of fine arts, braunschweig. among her solo exhibitions: 1998 'artist body - public body', museum of contemporary art, valencia 1997-98 'luminosity', sean kelly gallery, new york 1996-97 'in between', UTA, dallas 1995-96 'objects performance video ...', museum of modern art, oxford among her partecipations: september 2 - november 11, 2001 the international triennale of contemporary art, yokohama 2001 one hundred artists invited from around the world will present a diverse selection of painting, sculpture, photography, film, installations, and other forms of art that represent the cutting edge of contemporary art. a large -scale contemporary art show to be held every three years. the general theme 'mega wave - towards a new synthesis -' with the aim of developing a new and more comprehensive vision of art for the future, a vision that creates a closer relationship between art and society. see marina abramovic's partecipation http://www.art-tech.jp/yt2001 2000 'dream house' the echigo-tsumari art triennale, japan 2000 'dream machines: ...', camden arts centre, london 1997 'future, present, past', XLVII biennale, venice 1993 'world wide video festival', the hague 1992 documenta IX, kassel see a complete exhibition list: http://www.eyestorm.com/feature/ED2n_article.asp?article_id=216&artist_id=108 --- ------- monthly designboom newsletter ------- ------- ? comments and contact us ? -------	marina abramovic © designboom the illy collection by marina abramovic the artist on the beach, photos courtesy illy one of the coffee cups by marina abramovic the illys in front of the milan presentation