ORLAN
(c)image: M HKA
This is the most recent MeasuRAGE. As for the previous one in Pittsburgh, ORLAN wears an armband that measures the activities of her body. For the M HKA, this armband also includes a GPS that tracks the performance in space. ORLAN invited three artists,Marina Abramović, Guillaume Bijl and Jan Fabre, and three organizers, the former and current directors and Barbara De Coninck, with whom she previously worked and has a good relationship. By doing this she respects other positions but also immediately directs them. The witnesses figure as representatives of the public in the event itself so that the audience also becomes a part of the image. In the first place this is because the witnesses participate in the second phase of the performance. Indeed, the first phase is purely physical. Body after body, a length becomes concrete. In the second phase these lengths are numbered, and shared with the witnesses. ORLAN also gives them legitimacy because they contribute to the formal constat (report) and so formalise the credibility. Similarly, the video artists and photographers acquire a clearer and more confirmed position. The best way to describe the MeasuRAGEs space is as a film set. Various actors playing different roles work together to ensure a good result. The performance does not develop ‘naturally’; it relates strongly to its continuation and then, if necessary, even makes its progression subordinate.
