Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Ulay Oh..

Performance artist Marina Abramovic was doing a live art show that involved her sitting in silence for 1 minute opposite complete strangers. Lots of people took part, but one man in particular gave her goosebumps.

I’ll let you watch the video and then I will explain a little more further below as I think you will appreciate the back story more once you see what happens in the video.


The story behind the scene:

In 2010, Serbian artist Marina Abramović had the honor of being the subject of a popular retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Throughout the show, Abramović performed a 736 hours and 30 minutes grueling piece entitled “The Artist Is Present,” sitting in the museum’s atrium and inviting the swelling crowds of viewers to sit directly opposite her, in silent dialogue. Abramović was no stranger to challenging performances. By the time that MoMA staged the retrospective, the then 63 year old artist had engaged in countless taxing exhibitions, earning her self-given title, “the grandmother of performance art.”

In her first performance at 27, Abramović explored the idea of ritual by playing a knife game on camera, stabbing the surface between her splayed fingers with a knife and occasionally hurting herself; she would then watch a video recording of the violence, and attempt to replicate it. Subsequent performances included her explorations of consciousness through the ingestion of pills for catatonia and depression; another comprised a 1974 incarnation of her MoMA performance, where Abramović sat passively before a table littered with objects for six hours, inviting the audience to put them to use on her person (of this piece, Abramović says, “What I learned was that… if you leave it up to the audience, they can kill you… I felt really violated: they cut up my clothes, stuck rose thorns in my stomach…”)

In 1976, Abramović met Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen), a West German artist who would become her lover and collaborator for the next twelve years. The duo fell into an impersonal abyss, losing their self hoods and attempting to become a single entity through arresting performances such as Breathing In/Breathing Out, where they locked mouths and breathed each other’s exhaled breath, eventually filling their lungs with carbon monoxide and falling unconscious.

By 1988, their romance had run its course; in typically atypical fashion, the pair decided to part by walking from opposing ends of the Great Wall of China until they met in the middle, and then said goodbye.

Related image


On the opening night of Abramović’s retrospective in 2010, the erstwhile lovers were reunited. The video above shows Abramović, sitting and steeling herself for her next silent interlocutor. Ulay approaches, and Abramović, a veteran of such difficult performances, looks up to what may have been the single most unexpected sight of the night, jolting her dignified composure. Their reunion is a deeply tender scene.

Marina and Ulay


Ever since I saw the video on YouTube, I wanted to know more about Marina's personal life and most important about her relation with Ulay. I couldn't understand how a couple could do what they've done. It's not easy to decide to break up without no reason.
There is a  a biography by James Wescott "When Marina Abramovic Dies", that was published in March 2010 during her residence at MoMa. 
Wescott worked with Marina on the book, and it's undoubtedly slanted a bit in her favor.


Unfortunately I didn't read the entire book, but it is highly recommend by several websites as "a balanced look at her work and her private life"
From what I've read on the web, Marina and Ulay's relationship is the center of the book and of Marina's life - they were together for nearly twelve years, living and working together in intense intimacy. They had originally planned to walk towards each other from the opposite ends of the Great Wall of China, meet in the middle, and get married. When they actually did it ten years later they walked to each other over the course of ninety days, embraced, and went their separate ways.
Ulay married his translator from the trip shortly thereafter, and Marina returned to New York. I can't imagine the heartbreak she must have felt (not to mention the exhaustion) on that plane ride home. As she wept when they met on the Wall Ulay told her, "Don't cry; we have accomplished so much." And Marina would go on to accomplish much more without Ulay.
At 71 years old she is still glowing.


How I Became the Bomb's 'Ulay, Oh'


The clip featured the story of  Marina and Ulay, by the band Adonis EP..

Several sites (like this one, this one and this one ) got hold of the video, posting it under headlines like "The Power of Love" and "She Sat With Many Strangers That Day, But When This Man Shows Up I Got Goosebumps", "Love Is Blind. Until You See Your Ex Again!"

At the time of this post's publication, "Ulay, Oh" has received more than 34 million views and still counting

“I was fortunate enough to wander into the MoMA just in time for "The Artist Is Present". Equal parts unsettling, absurd, and profound; I couldn't shake the experience. Later, I stumbled onto the video wherein Ulay and Marina reunite and was overwhelmed with only one sentiment: this is a song.”
- HIBTB frontman Jon Burr



The Lyrics

There she was like a picture
There she was, she was just the same
There she was, he just had to know that she had forgot his name
Ulay, ulay, oh

Thinking back to the last time
On the wall as they turned away
Walking back, was it just a dream or did he hear her say?
Ulay, ulay, oh

Trying his best to forget her
Trying his best to just keep his stride
Kept his word, but he knows he heard
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh

There she was like a picture
There she was, she was just the same
There she was, he just had to know she had not forgot his name
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh

There he was like his picture
There he was, he was just the same
There he was, he could never know she could never give his name
Ulay, ulay, oh

Thinking back to the last time
On the wall as he turned away
Turning back, did he even know?
Did he ever hear her say
Ulay, ulay, oh

Trying her best to forget him
Trying her best just to keep her stride
Ulay, ulay, oh
Ulay, ulay, oh

There they were like the picture
There they were, they were just the same
There they were, but he walked away and her eyes could only say
Ulay, ulay, oh

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Bésame Mucho

Bésame Mucho Kiss me a lot

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
As if tonight were
The last time

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte otra vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
I am afraid of losing you
Losing you again

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
As if tonight were
The last time

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte otra vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
I am afraid of losing you
Losing you again

Bésame, bésame mucho

Kiss me, kiss me a lot

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte otra vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
I am afraid of losing you
Losing you again

Quiero tenerte muy cerca
Mirarme en tus ojos
Verte junto a mi
Piensa que tal vez mañana
Yo ya estaré lejos
Tan lejos de ti

I want to have you close to me
To see myself in your eyes
To see you next to me
Think that perhaps tomorrow
I will be far
So far away from you

Bésame, bésame mucho
Como si fuera esta noche
La última vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
As if tonight were
The last time

Bésame, bésame mucho
Que tengo miedo a perderte
Perderte otra vez

Kiss me, kiss me a lot
I am afraid of losing you
Losing you again


André Rieu & Laura Engel performing Bésame Mucho live in Maastricht.

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

تحية طيبة.. وبعد

ثمة نكتة تعود للعهود الشيوعية، تقول إن شاباً ألمانياً ذهب للعمل والدراسة في صربيا، وكان الشاب يعلم مسبقاً أن البريد السوفياتي مراقب بصرامة، لذا إتفق مع رفاقه أن يكتب لهم بالحبر الأزرق إن كان كل شيء طبيعياً، أما إذا كتب بالأحمر فمضمون رسالته زائف ومشفر، بعد وصوله بأشهر بعث برسالة إلى الأصدقاء في ألمانيا، فتجمهروا حولها وفتحوها بلهفة شديدة، فخاب أملهم لما وجدوها بالأزرق، ومع ذلك شرعوا بقراءتها… “كل شيء جميل هنا، المخازن ممتلئة بالأطعمة الجيدة، مسارح العرض تعرض أفلاماً غربية جديدة، الشقق واسعة وفخمة وفيها تدفئة مقبولة، الشيء الوحيد الذي ليس بإمكانك شراؤه في هذه المدينة هو قلم الحبر الأحمر”…

أخذتني نوبة هستيرية من الضحك، وقد سرحت فيما كنت سأكتب لو كنت مكانه، لساعات طوال الليل كنت أقهقه كلما خرجت بسيناريو أحمر مكتوب بالحبر الأزرق، حتى عقدت العزم على مراسلة أصدقائي في المهجر…

إلى أصدقائي في كندا وأميركا والبرازيل والخليج وسائر بلاد الإنتشار اللبناني.

تحية طيبة.. وبعد

أكتب إليكم من لبنان، بلد المحبة والتسامح والديمقراطية والحرية المطلقة، أنا في أحسن حال هنا، أحس بالأمان الشديد، لا خوف عليّ أبداً، ولا ينقصني شيء مطلقاً، كل شيء متوفر هنا، الماء، والوقود، والكهرباء، والرعاية الصحية وكلها بأبخس الأثمان.

البلد نظيف للغاية، لا نفايات ولا مطامر ولا تلوث! حتى أن نسيم العاصمة في نفق سليم سلام "يرد الروح".

الوظائف هنا كثيرة، لكن مقياس الحصول عليها هو الكفاءة لا شيء آخر، الرواتب في لبنان مرتفعة للغاية، حتى لو أسرفت إلى حد الجنون، سيبقى راتبك في جيبك وكأنه ينجب ويتكاثر، الشعب هنا مضياف كريم، يعامل الأجانب بعدل وإنصاف ويمنحهم حقوقهم الإنسانية كلها، لا ينتقص منها شيئاً، يمكنك أن تكتب وتعبر كيفما تشاء، لن يتعرض لك أحد، الإختلاف في الآراء يُعالج بالطرق الودية والحبية، خاصة أن الابتسامة تعلو كل الوجوه في كل الأوقات.

تصوروا أن السوريين ورغم رغد العيش والأمان في سوريا، يأتون طوعاً إلى لبنان للتنعم بحسن الضيافة ، يعيشون بين اللبنانيين في قصور وشقق فخمة وواسعة تطل على البحر وعلى الحدائق العامة الغنّاء.

الحكام هنا عادلون، والشعب يعبدهم (حرفياً)، ومن فرط حبه لهم طالبهم بإلغاء الانتخابات ليمددوا لأنفسهم، لأنه من المستحيل أن يأتي بغيرهم، الديمقراطية بدعة قديمة، هنا اخترعوا التمديد كإحدى أحدث نظريات الولاء الجماهيري.

أحدثكم عن أهل السياسة، وعن أكفهم البيضاء النظيفة المنزهة عن الخطأ، وكأنهم قديسون وملائكة، يااااه لو تعلمون مدى حرصهم على هيبة الدولة واستقلالها وقرارها السيد الحر، وعلى مؤسساتها وحداثتها، حتى أنهم أراحوا العسكر من عناء السهر، فقام كل زعيم بإنشاء تنظيم يسهر على أمن الناس وسلامتهم، عناصره يمكن تمييزهم بسهولة، فهم يلبسون الأبيض، ويمسكون بورود حمراء نضرة في أيديهم.

من النعيم اللبناني، أعاتبكم يا أصدقائي على اختياركم الهجرة، لقد أضعتم الكثير، تركتم ورائكم جنة الله على الأرض.

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