Light/Dark
1978
Abramovic/Ulay
9’19”
4:3 aspect ratio

Light/Dark first took place at the International Art Fair in Cologne, Germany, in October 1977. The performance was later re-enacted in a studio in Amsterdam and filmed by Louis van Gasteren (1978). At the beginning of the twenty-minute performance, Ulay and Abramovic are quietly slapping each other with the right hand on the left cheek. After each slap, the hand that has delivered it is placed back on the leg of its owner, which results in a regular rhythm. During the rest of the performance, the slaps speed up. The performance ends when Abramovic ducks her head, evading the next slap. Light/Dark is not about pain, despite the fact that slapping is normally associated with hurting someone. The slapping is used as a means towards a higher end. Abramovic says: ‘It is not the pain itself that matters. We never did things for the pleasure of pain. We were looking for a key, a way to break through the body, to open something up, which is a desire that comes from another side of truth or reality.’

Moving Images/Moving Bodies and Netherlands Media Art Institute

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