"The Marina AbramoviÄ Method: Instruction Cards to Reboot Your Life" comes out this week, just in time to help restore balance.
â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â â [Los Angeles Times]
[Essential Arts] Artists are speaking out, adding to the growing international uproar over [Russiaâs attack on Ukraine](. A day before the invasion, Germanyâs Deutsche Welle media outlet spoke to a handful of Ukrainian artists. One of them was filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa. âIf there is no tough reaction from the EU and NATO countries now, it will end badly for everyone,â he said. âUnfortunately, history repeats itself, and unfortunately, no one learns from it.â âWhere are the voices of artists from France, Germany, the U.S.?â asked writer Andrei Kurkov in [the article](. âIt is up to the artists to shake up their governments. Because the politicians obviously havenât understood yet how dangerous whatâs happening right now is for all of us.â Hi, Iâm arts writer Deborah Vankin filling in for Carolina A. Miranda, and itâs been ⦠a week. And all on the heels of [L.A.âs art fair season]( wrapping up. (Following [Super Bowl parties]( that wrapped up just days earlier.) In an effort to restore some semblance of calm and balance after covering both the Super Bowl and Frieze (and to quiet war-news-induced anxiety), I turned to the Method â the Marina AbramoviÄ Method. The Serbian [performance artist]( â who recently posted a [short video]( in solidarity with the Ukrainian people â created an interactive deck of cards that comes out this week: âThe Marina AbramoviÄ Method: Instruction Cards to Reboot Your Life,â co-created with L.A.-based arts and fiction writer Katya Tylevich. The set of 30 cards, featuring photographs from AbramoviÄâs personal life and performances over nearly 50 years, offers mental and physical conditioning exercises âfor reaching a higher consciousness and confronting lifeâs challenges.â I was in. I whipped open the box and promptly spilled out the cards, sending them flying across the living room floor. Good: shuffled. I picked up a card: âBlink Your Eyes Rapidly, Looking From Side to Side.â Dizziness ensued. I chose another: âListen to Natureâ (for one hour, blindfolded). Sublime. [Close-up of a hand holding a card with the words "complain to a tree." ]
If all else fails, complain to a tree. Marina AbramoviÄ has âInstruction Cards to Reboot Your Life.â (Laurence King Publishing ) The New York-based artist is known for pushing the limits of her mind and body, and often interacting with audiences: In 2002, she turned herself into a living installation at New Yorkâs Sean Kelly Gallery, staying there for 12 days without eating or speaking for âThe House With the Ocean Viewâ; in 2010, as part of âThe Artist Is Present,â she famously sat silently at a small table inside New Yorkâs Museum of Modern Art, gazing into visitorsâ eyes for hours each session. The card deck is the distillation of her own process of readying for performances and art-making; many of the techniques are simple mindfulness exercises. And itâs surprisingly (refreshingly?) earnest. I persisted. The deck promises to âpurge your mind of all unnecessary distractions and anxieties and help you unleash your creativityâ â for $19.99. As if on cue: My phone rang (sales call). A package arrived, with the wrong contents. My editor messaged and my dating profile pinged â another âavailable man wielding a fishâ photo. I drew a new card, this time abiding by the instructions and turning off electronics: âRelease Static Electricity Through a Strand of Your Hairâ (pinching one at a time, repeatedly). Curiously fun. I ran in âfixed circlesâ for five minutes; inhaled slowly through alternate nostrils; complained to a tree for 15 minutes. (The latter yielded lemons but no inner peace.) I drew the line at counting each grain of rice and individual lentil in an uncooked, mixed pile. The deck is supposed to teach âendurance, concentration, perception, self-control and willpower,â among other things. But, alas, âThe Marina AbramoviÄ Methodâ was no match for developing news headlines â and a looming newsletter deadline. This is by way of saying: Hereâs what else is happening across the L.A. arts landscape. On the stage [Bryan Cranston]( brings a chameleon-like quality to his performances, says Times theater critic Charles McNulty. In [his review]( of Paul Grellongâs âPower of Sail,â which opened last week at the Geffen Playhouse as directed by Weyni Mengesha, he says Cranston âembodies the weary petulance of a grizzled Harvard history professor whose star is in decline.â The play, also featuring Amy Brenneman, touches on free speech and academic freedom, among other issues. [A man sits at a desk typing on a laptop. A woman stands in the background.]
Amy Brenneman and Bryan Cranston in âPower of Sailâ at the Geffen Playhouse. (Jeff Lorch ) McNulty [also reviews]( the Stephen Sondheim musical âAssassins,â which East West Players was scheduled to open when COVID shuttered theaters in March 2020. Sundayâs opening â at long last â âwas a celebration of the return to live theater,â McNulty writes, âfor the nationâs longest-running Asian American theater company and a testament to an organizationâs remarkable resilience.â McNulty has been busy: He also [reviews âDetained,â]( France-Luce Bensonâs play, conceived and co-created by ACLU immigration attorney Judy Rabinovitz, premiering at the Fountain Theatre. The documentary drama, directed by Mark Valdez, âmoves us from highly partisan debates about immigration policies,â McNulty writes, âto the destructive fallout on families and individuals who considered America not just their home but their safe haven.â [A woman standing amid a line of men and women in orange jumpsuits speaks onstage.]
A scene from âDetained,â at the Fountain Theatre. (Jenny Graham)
ADVERTISEMENT
Classical notes Times classical music critic Mark Swed [reviews]( Wayne Shorterâs â... (Iphigenia),â which he calls â100 minutes of gripping music for orchestra, jazz trio and a good-sized cast of singers.â The opera â which stars bassist and singer Esperanza Spalding, who also wrote the libretto, and whose set was designed by architect Frank Gehry â had its Southern California premiere at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. Itâs âthe magnificent capstone,â Swed writes, of 88-year-old Shorterâs career â âone of the all-time great jazz careers.â During the pandemic, composers have tended toward making new music about either loneliness and isolation or an appreciation for being alive and making art during troubled times, Swed points out. But not Icelandic composer DanÃel Bjarnason. âFEAST,â his piano concerto that premiered at Walt Disney Concert Hall, âis a darkly luminous dance of death,â Swed says [in his review](. The piece was inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe story, âThe Masque of the Red Death.â [Four costumed performers on a stage; one is gagged and kneeling on a platform.]
A scene from the opera â... (Iphigenia),â which opened at the Broad Stage. (Ben Gibbs)
Architecturally speaking On Thursday, USC announced that it had finalized the sale of Frank Lloyd Wrightâs dilapidated albeit iconic Freeman House to Richard E. Weintraub. But the deal âcomes with plenty of conditions,â reports Times arts and urban design [columnist Carolina A. Miranda]( âin the form of [a conservation easement]( held by the Los Angeles Conservancy that prohibits Weintraub or any future buyer from demolishing the building or making unsympathetic additions. Moreover, as part of the deal, the public â in the form of educational groups or architectural tours â will have access to the home four times a year.â The house needs significant repairs, though, so donât expect to be able to go anytime soon. [The facade of a house made up of concrete blocks, some of them with designs.]
Frank Lloyd Wrightâs Freeman House. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
ADVERTISEMENT
Museum news Painting prodigy and Baroque icon Artemisia Gentileschi is finally getting her due: The J. Paul Getty Museum last year acquired her âLucretiaâ (circa 1627). But, asks Times art critic Christopher Knight, why has it taken so long for the Italian Baroque painter to be recognized as the 17th century feminist heroine she is? Put simply, Knight says [in his commentary]( âGentileschi is the Frida Kahlo of European art.â [Artemisia Gentileschi, "Lucretia" (circa 1627).]
Artemisia Gentileschi, âLucretia,â circa 1627, oil on canvas. (J. Paul Getty Museum) Enjoying this newsletter? Consider subscribing to the Los Angeles Times Your support helps us deliver the news that matters most. [Become a subscriber](. Essential happenings Matt Cooperâs [event picks this week]( are all about alliteration: Ballet BC and Herbie Hancock, among other best bets. The Vancouver-based Ballet BC will appear at the Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for the Performing Arts; Hancock will perform at Walt Disney Concert Hall; and the New York-based Heartbeat Opera will stage a BLM re-imagining of Beethovenâs only opera, âFidelio,â at the Broad Stage. Passages Sculptor De Wain Valentine, an influential figure in the 1960s and 1970s Light & Space movement, has [died at 85](. The artist, Knight notes, worked primarily with resin, fiberglass-reinforced polyester and other synthetic materials. âL.A. is the city of the modern world so far,â he told UCLA art historian Kurt von Meier in a 1966 interview in Artforum, âand that world is going to be plastic.â [A man in a suit and cowboy hat stands with a woman in a pastel gown with frills.]
Artist De Wain Valentine and Almine Ruiz-Picasso, owner of art galleries including New York's Almine Rech Gallery, in front of his âRed Concave Circleâ at a LACMA event in 2015. (Charley Gallay / Getty Images for LACMA)
In other news â Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, a supporter of Vladimir Putin, will [no longer be taking the stage]( at Carnegie Hall to lead the Vienna Philharmonic in a series of concerts. The cancellation illuminates the global condemnation of Russiaâs attack on Ukraine. â For ongoing coverage of the[crisis in Ukraine]( follow the Los Angeles Timesâ [updates](. â Hereâs what Times foreign correspondents Nabih Bulos and Marcus Yam were seeing [on the ground]( there earlier this week. â And Washington, D.C.-based photographer Melissa Lyttle has created a [Twitter list]( of photojournalists on the ground in Ukraine. Yes, the world feels especially scary right now. â[Drink a glass of water]( as slowly as you can,â says Marina AbramoviÄ in her Method. Note the sensory experience. Repeat throughout the day. The Zen-like exercise is meant to ground you and promote letting go: âWater will never flow the same way twice,â she says, âand neither will you.â ADVERTISEMENT
Thank you for reading the Los Angeles Times Essential Arts newsletter.
Invite your friends, relatives, coworkers to sign up [here](.
Not a subscriber? Get unlimited digital access to latimes.com. [Subscribe here](.
[Los Angeles Times]
Copyright © 2022, Los Angeles Times
2300 E. Imperial Highway, El Segundo, California, 90245
1-800-LA-TIMES | [latimes.com]( *Advertisers have no control over editorial decisions or content. If you're interested in placing an ad or classified, get in touch [here](. We'd love your feedback on this newsletter. Please send your thoughts and suggestions [here](mailto:newsletters@latimes.com).
The Essential Arts logo was created by Alfredo Ponce. You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from The Los Angeles Times.
[Manage marketing email preferences]( · [Manage newsletter subscriptions or unsubscribe]( · [Terms of service]( · [Privacy policy]( · [Do Not Sell My Personal Information]( · [CA Notice of Collection]( FOLLOW US [Divider](#) [Facebook]( [2-tw.png]( [Instagram]( [YouTube](