1. What are some of your first impressions of Marina Abramovic’s performance works, based on the documentary? Use an image/example of one or two works to describe aspects you admire, and aspects you might agree are problematic?
My first impressions watching Marina Abramovic’s documentary ranged from a few different ideas, opinions and thoughts. I really admired her true passion for finding unique ways to portray an idea, feeling or message to the audience. A quote from Marina in the documentary says “performance will never be a regular form of art” which she clearly depicts in her works. Specifically, during Marinas performance ‘the artist is present’ she takes on a huge emotionally challanging role by not only keeping composure during the whole performance, but by taking on the weight of everyone elses emotions. Throughout the documentary I also saw the side of people who argue her work can be problematic. A lot of her performances include putting herself in danger and risk to harming herself for the sake of art, and although its all about a message she is trying to portray I personally think some performances like ‘rhythm 10’ could have portrayed the message in a safer way for her sake.
2. Discuss the ways performance art resists many museum and commercial artworld conventions. How does Abramovic solve/negotiate some of these challenges, and do you find these compromises add to, or undermine the ideas at play in her work?
Performance art often resists museums and the art market because it is lie, temporary and tied to the body. it also cannot be easily bought, sold or preserved. Marina worked through these challanges in a few ways. She used photos, videos and objects from her performances as lasting “artworks” that can circulate in museums. Her MoMA show ‘The Artist Is Present’ went een further, turning performance into the centerpeice of a major museum exhibition which drew huge public attention. Her compromises dont dilute performance-they expand its impact and ensures it remains part of the larger conversation about what art can be.
Turning the Gestures of Everyday Life Into Art – The New York Times
1. The Work and Its Challenges/Gifts
Katja Heitmann’s project Motus Mori, is about turning everyday human gestures into art. Instead of recording them on video or writing them down, she and her dancers preserve them directly in their bodies, creating a living “archive.” This means every fidget, twitch, or unique movement a person does becomes part of an ongoing performance. The challenge here is obvious: movements are fragile and fleeting. Unlike digital files, they can be lost if the dancers stop practicing or forget them. But that’s also the beauty of it—the archive is alive, constantly breathing and changing. It’s intimate and deeply human in a way that data on a screen never could be. That fragility makes the work both risky and precious.
2. Striking Examples of Movements
Two examples stood out to me. The first is Mahat Arab’s anxious habit of cracking his knuckles while driving or talking on the phone. Something most of us would consider a nervous tic becomes, through Heitmann’s lens, a meaningful and personal movement worth saving. The second is the woman who always tucked her hand into the waistband of her leggings. It’s such a small, ordinary gesture, yet it says so much about comfort, restlessness, and individuality. What’s striking about both examples is how easily these tiny, unconscious actions—things we hardly notice about ourselves—can become powerful markers of identity when someone else pays close attention.
3. Movements of People I Know
When I think about the people closest to me, their unconscious gestures reveal a lot about who they are. My mom, for example, has a way of tapping her fingers when she’s deep in thought, almost like her body is working out ideas before she says them. My best friend tends to bite the inside of her cheek when she’s nervous, a small gesture that gives away her tension even when she’s trying to stay calm. And my brother has a slouched but easy stride, his posture relaxed yet still somehow purposeful. These movements might seem ordinary, but they capture personality in ways words often can’t—they’re like little signatures of how each person carries themselves in the world.
my name is Sloan, I am currently in my 3rd year studying studio art. Im originally from St.catharines where Ive lived my whole life. My goal is to work in film or photography and ive wanted to work in that feild my whole life. I couldn’t add a photo of myself because my computer is not very cooperative so I apologize for that, I did try to.
The Artist Is Present discussion questions
1. What are some of your first impressions of Marina Abramovic’s performance works, based on the documentary? Use an image/example of one or two works to describe aspects you admire, and aspects you might agree are problematic?
My first impressions watching Marina Abramovic’s documentary ranged from a few different ideas, opinions and thoughts. I really admired her true passion for finding unique ways to portray an idea, feeling or message to the audience. A quote from Marina in the documentary says “performance will never be a regular form of art” which she clearly depicts in her works. Specifically, during Marinas performance ‘the artist is present’ she takes on a huge emotionally challanging role by not only keeping composure during the whole performance, but by taking on the weight of everyone elses emotions. Throughout the documentary I also saw the side of people who argue her work can be problematic. A lot of her performances include putting herself in danger and risk to harming herself for the sake of art, and although its all about a message she is trying to portray I personally think some performances like ‘rhythm 10’ could have portrayed the message in a safer way for her sake.
2. Discuss the ways performance art resists many museum and commercial artworld conventions. How does Abramovic solve/negotiate some of these challenges, and do you find these compromises add to, or undermine the ideas at play in her work?
Performance art often resists museums and the art market because it is lie, temporary and tied to the body. it also cannot be easily bought, sold or preserved. Marina worked through these challanges in a few ways. She used photos, videos and objects from her performances as lasting “artworks” that can circulate in museums. Her MoMA show ‘The Artist Is Present’ went een further, turning performance into the centerpeice of a major museum exhibition which drew huge public attention. Her compromises dont dilute performance-they expand its impact and ensures it remains part of the larger conversation about what art can be.
Turning the Gestures of Everyday Life Into Art – The New York Times
1. The Work and Its Challenges/Gifts
Katja Heitmann’s project Motus Mori, is about turning everyday human gestures into art. Instead of recording them on video or writing them down, she and her dancers preserve them directly in their bodies, creating a living “archive.” This means every fidget, twitch, or unique movement a person does becomes part of an ongoing performance. The challenge here is obvious: movements are fragile and fleeting. Unlike digital files, they can be lost if the dancers stop practicing or forget them. But that’s also the beauty of it—the archive is alive, constantly breathing and changing. It’s intimate and deeply human in a way that data on a screen never could be. That fragility makes the work both risky and precious.
2. Striking Examples of Movements
Two examples stood out to me. The first is Mahat Arab’s anxious habit of cracking his knuckles while driving or talking on the phone. Something most of us would consider a nervous tic becomes, through Heitmann’s lens, a meaningful and personal movement worth saving. The second is the woman who always tucked her hand into the waistband of her leggings. It’s such a small, ordinary gesture, yet it says so much about comfort, restlessness, and individuality. What’s striking about both examples is how easily these tiny, unconscious actions—things we hardly notice about ourselves—can become powerful markers of identity when someone else pays close attention.
3. Movements of People I Know
When I think about the people closest to me, their unconscious gestures reveal a lot about who they are. My mom, for example, has a way of tapping her fingers when she’s deep in thought, almost like her body is working out ideas before she says them. My best friend tends to bite the inside of her cheek when she’s nervous, a small gesture that gives away her tension even when she’s trying to stay calm. And my brother has a slouched but easy stride, his posture relaxed yet still somehow purposeful. These movements might seem ordinary, but they capture personality in ways words often can’t—they’re like little signatures of how each person carries themselves in the world.
KM assignment
I really enjoyed how open-ended this assignment was and the freedom to approach it in different ways. When deciding how to measure my kilometer, I knew I wanted to physically walk the distance but also put my own spin on it. Since I go to the gym 4–5 times a week, I decided to walk 1km on the treadmill. While doing so, I tracked all the songs I listened to and created a playlist called 1km Assignment. So in a way, I measured 1km through music! I’ve included pictures of both the playlist and me on the treadmill below.
ART GALLERY OF GUELPH
This was the first thing i noticed when i walked into the gallery. The idea that the bricks are actually etched with words from those old colonial texts is very interesting to me. Right in the center, the bison skull is such a heavy, moving symbol. its a reminder of what we lost. The coolest part of all to me is how the whole thing is brought to life by inviting visiors to touc`h the little conductive threads trailing out, activating a story.
Audio project
For our audio project, we focused on capturing the sounds of a morning routine brushing teeth, eating cereal, making the bed, opening curtains, putting on a jacket… and more familiar sounds. At first, we recorded each of these actions as they naturally happened to keep things authentic. However, when we listened back, the result felt too simple and not what we were going for. It didn’t feel authentic to us as students with ADHD, our mornings are rarely that calm or perfectly structured. The original version sounded more like a checklist than a lived experience.
We decided to re-record and take the project a step further by experimenting with noises that could recreate or exaggerate the sounds we wanted. We layered and manipulated familiar sounds, testing different materials and movements like finding the most satisfying curtain sound or emphasizing the crunch of cereal to add energy and texture. Through this process, we began to see how sound design can express more than just actions it can capture emotion, chaos, and personality.
After our critique, we re-edited the audio and added even more layers of sound background noises, repetitions, and overlapping elements to make the piece feel cluttered, busy, and overwhelming. Our original audio file still plays underneath, grounding the piece, while the new sounds fill the space around it, mimicking the mental noise and sensory overload we often experience in the mornings.
The final version doesn’t just sound like someone getting ready for their day it feels like being inside the mind of someone whose thoughts are running a thousand miles a minute, constantly aware of every small sound around them. What started as a simple recording of a morning routine transformed into something immersive and personal, a reflection of how ordinary moments can feel intense, layered, and full of motion through the lens of ADHD.
‘A letter from a loved one’
For this assignment, I wanted to find a meaningful and artistic way to portray my nana’s life, one that felt personal, honest, and connected to the stories she has told me over the years. After thinking through different possibilities, I came to the idea of creating a series of postcards written from her perspective. Even though I do not have the real postcards she might have written during the most significant moments of her life, I felt that making my own inspired by her words and memories would allow me to represent her journey in a creative and intimate way.
The first postcard I created is set in 1939, during the beginning of the war, when my nana had to evacuate her home. This was one of the stories she shared with me growing up, and it always stood out because of how young she was and how suddenly her life changed. She had to move to Surrey with her older sister, leaving behind her parents and her other siblings. Imagining what she would have felt, fear, confusion, and hope, helped me write the postcard as if she were reaching out to her family from somewhere unfamiliar but safe. It was important to me that this card reflected both her bravery and the emotional weight of that experience.
As the postcards move forward through time, I explored the moment she met my poppa. Their story has always been one of my favourites. He asked to borrow her bike and promised her gum in return, but did not come back for two hours. Somehow, that small moment turned into a lifelong relationship filled with love, travel, and adventure. Together, they visited countries all over the world and even participated in mission trips, something she still talks about with so much pride.
Growing up, my nana and poppa were a huge part of my life. Even though my poppa is no longer with us, his influence still radiates through my nana every day. Working on this project was emotional for me, especially because my nana is now 93, and I am not sure how much time I have left with her. Creating these postcards allowed me to honour her life, her resilience, and the stories she has shared with me. I wrote each card the way I imagined she would have sounded at that moment in her life, and in doing so, I felt closer to her and the history that shaped her.
