SEEDBED

SEEDBED. By Marina Abramovic. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. 10 November 2005.

Like the title of her larger project, Seven Easy Pieccs, Marina Abramovic's rendition of Vito Acconci's Seedbed (1972) is at once simple and densely ironic. The Guggenheim's program outlines the straightforward aspect of her endeavor: "Abramovic reenacts seminal performance works by her peers dating from the 1960s and 1970s, interpreting them as one would a musical score and documenting their realization." Myriad complexities unfold, however, as soon as one enters the physical space. A musical score is a written form of composition, with parts for different instruments appearing on separate staves. By contrast, Abramovic's interpretation is a profoundly embodied engagement, with no easy way to isolate its aesthetic, institutional, and sociopolitical elements.

Inside the Guggenheim's vast rotunda, I immediately noticed how the scene of reenactment looks nothing like existing photographs of Acconci's original work. Acconci positioned himself beneath a false floor at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating six hours a day while vocalizing his fantasies about visitors walking above him. His notorious fusion of performance and installation took place in a starkly confined perimeter. The installation dimensions were roughly six by three feet. The ramp under which he sought to establish an intimate connection with listeners was sharply angled, obliging audiences to move above him on a slant. Apart from a loudspeaker placed level to the floor, no other visual distractions occupied the space.

With its domed ceiling and spiraling ramps, the Guggenheim's towering rotunda feels strangely cathedral-like. Russian Orthodox icons lining the walls add to its...