The following video of Marina Abramović’s performance for her 2010 MoMA retrospective speaks for itself entirely through silence. The most dramatic part of the video is Marina’s encounter with a former great love from the 70’s whom she used to create art with. What truly captivated me about this video were the shared moments of silent staring contents with strangers.
I find the act of staring into the eyes of another human being in silence to be revolutionary in a world consumed with conversation. Have you ever stared into someone’s eyes without speaking? Silence provides the opportunity to experience the reality, the fullness, the beingness of another human. Two humans staring into each other’s eyes in silence is consciousness gazing into a mirror.
That was amazing & brought tears to my eyes. And yet I am reminded of how we had to do a similar exercise when I was in school and most of us broke down in giggles. We hardly ever truly look into someone else’s eyes for any significant length of time.
That is so interesting that you did that in school, it really is hard not to laugh!