Marina Abramoviç (b. 1946) and Ulay (1943-2020)
9 Performances: Relation Work (1976-1980)
Relation in Space, 1976, 14:35, b&w, sound
Talking about Similarity, 1976, 10:07 min. b&w, sound
Breathing in, Breathing out, 1977, 11:30 min, b&w, sound
Imponderabilia, 1977, 9:53 min, b&w, sound
Expansion in Space, 1977, 14:18 min, b&w, sound
Relation in Movement, 1977, 13:18 min, b&w, sound
Relation in Time, 1977, 12 min, b&w, sound
Light/Dark, 1977, 6:38 min, b&w, sound
Balance Proof, 1977, 8:43 min, b&w, sound

The Relation Work project, documented in Program III, is a series of highly charged conceptual performances in which the artists used their bodies to explore and transcend physical, mental and psychological limitations through endurance and risk. The artists test the relation of male and female energies in time and space, pushing the limits of body and self: They breathe each other's breath; slap each other across the face; repeatedly smack their nude bodies headlong into pillars.

In 1976 the artists defined their Relation Work project as follows: "Art Vital: No fixed living place, permanent movement, direct contact, local relation, self-selection, passing limitations, taking risks, mobile energy." -- EAI

This title is available for exhibitions, screenings, and institutional use through Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI), NY. Please visit the EAI Online Catalogue for further information about this artist and work. The EAI site offers extensive resources for curators, students, artists and educators, including: an in-depth guide to exhibiting, collecting, and preserving media art; A Kinetic History: The EAI Archives Online, a collection of essays, primary documents, and media charting EAI's 40-year history and the early years of the emergent video art scene; and expanded contextual and educational materials.