At 44 1/2, Creative Time’s presentation of video art on MTV’s outdoor, gilded screen located in the heart of New York City’s Times Square, will showcase the work of groundbreaking performance artist Marina Abramovic. Opening concurrently with her retrospective at The Museum of Modern Art, Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, Creative Time’s presentation includes Light/Dark (1977), Rest Energy (1980), and Dissolution (1997). Marina Ambramovic is a performance artist whose groundbreaking work has influenced other artists for more than three decades.

“In her stunning work, Marina Abramovic—along with her former collaborator, Ulay—has made powerful works that courageously probe conditions of gender, power, sexuality, war, and peace,” said Anne Pasternak, President and Artistic Director of Creative Time. “Among the most influential artists of her time, it is exciting to show a small survey of her work on the MTV screen in Times Square, a site with contesting relationships between gender, commerce, and identity.”

The first two films— Light/Dark and Rest Energy—feature German-born performance artist Ulay in interactions that explore the themes of tension and violence that carry throughout many of her time-based works. In Light/Dark, Abramovic and Ulay kneel opposite each other against a dark background lit only by two sources of light. They take turns slapping each other at a quickening pace, resulting in mechanized rhythm that continues until Abramovic ducks her head, evading the next slap and thus ending the cycle. In Rest/Energy, this cyclical repetition is replaced by an exercise in suspenseful stillness that begins when Abramovic and Ulay stand opposite each other and slowly lean apart until they are held only by the tension of a loaded bow that is held between them—its arrow pointed directly at Abramovic’s heart. After four alarming minutes, they relax the tension on the bow, and Abramovic is out of danger.

In Dissolution, wherein Abramovic appears alone in a beautifully lit studio setting repeatedly lashing her bare back with a whip until she begins to tremble, the artist’s focus returns to her ongoing exploration of the inextricable unity of body and mind. The title, Dissolution, references themes recurrent in Abramovic’s work, from violence and cultural memory, to testing the limits of her body in order to reach a higher state of consciousness.

The larger than life, high definition 44 1/2 screen is located on Broadway between 44th and 45th Streets, directly across the street from MTV’s offices and studio. At 44 1/2 is part of Creative Time’s long history of presenting public art in Times Square.

VIEWING SCHEDULE AND DIRECTIONS A viewing schedule and directions to the screen are available at here

ABOUT THE ARTIST Throughout her long career, Marina Abramovic has employed the use of provocative performance as a vital form of visual art. Born in Belgrade, Yogoslavia, Marina Abramovi? became a member of a generation of pioneering performance artists in New York that emerged in the 1970s. Exploring the relationship between performer and audience, Abramovic extends the physical and mental limits of her being in her performances. She has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in search for an emotional and spiritual transformation. Abramovic has exhibited at major institutions throughout U.S. the world. Her work has also been included in many large-scale international exhibitions including the Venice Biennale (1976 and 1997) and Documenta VI, VII and IX, Kassel, Germany (1977, 1982 and 1992). She was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale for her extraordinary video installation/performance piece Balkan Baroque‚ and in 2003 received the Bessie for The House with the Ocean View‚ a 12-day performance at Sean Kelly Gallery. In 2012, Abramovi? will open the Marina Abramovi? Institute in Hudson, NY to help preserve performance art and to help increase its audience.

ABOUT CREATIVE TIME Since 1974, Creative Time has presented the most innovative art in the public realm. From our base in New York, we work with artists who ignite the imagination and explore ideas that shape society. We initiate a dynamic conversation among artists, sites, and audiences, in projects that enliven public spaces with free and powerful expression.

Creative Time’s presentation of video art in Times Square since 2001 has inspired new public video programs in metropolises across the country and around the world.

Creative Time is funded through the generous support of corporations, foundations, government agencies, and individuals. We gratefully acknowledge public funding from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; the New York State Council on the Arts, a State agency; and New York State Senator Thomas K. Duane. The official hotel partner of Creative Time is The Standard.