5th August, LONDON - This September, WePresent, the digital arts arm of WeTransfer, and renowned performance artist Marina Abramović will present Traces: a multimedia sensory experience featuring five objects that have inspired the artist’s life and practice.
Taking over London’s Old Truman Brewery exclusively on 10th - 12th September, WePresent will invite visitors to journey through Abramović’s life as an artist presented as five unique experiences. Like an immersive time capsule, each room will stage an idea or object chosen by the artist herself that is endowed with symbolic significance, cultivated over 50 years.
Inspiring contemplation, connectivity and stillness, each room unites video works, soundscapes, manipulations of light, and thought provoking editorial. The experience, for which Abramović will showcase two of her own works; Crystal Cinema (1991) and 10,000 stars (2015), intends to submerge visitors in the five treasures Abramović would leave behind to preserve for future generations.
From the Rose of Jericho, demonstrating Abramović’s faith in the power of life, her understanding of the cosmos captured in Van Gogh’s Starry Night, to her sensitivity to human pain cultivated by the works of Susan Sontag, Traces will offer a never-before-seen glimpse into the influences that have shaped Abramović’s creative endeavors over decades. The installation will culminate with an interview with the artist herself recorded exclusively for the show.
Running concurrently to the physical installation, Traces will be available on WePresent as a digital experience for all to access for free worldwide. It marks the culmination of the platform’s year-long collaboration with Abramović. This hybrid experience follows Abramović’s guest curatorship, where she was invited to spotlight five emerging performance artists, and the 24/7 digital manifestation of The Abramović Method on WeTransfer, reaching 80 million people around the world.
Marina Abramović said: “This experience marks the final phase in my collaboration with WePresent who have always been willing to look at new interpretations of my work and passions. From shining the light on extraordinary performance talents around the world; to bringing The Abramovic Method to people in such a unique way; to this, a free immersive experience showing 5 things that I believe we have to preserve for the future. From the astounding natural delight of the Rose of Jericho, to Susan Sontag's crucial essay 'Regarding the Pain of Others'; and where people will be able to experience my ‘Crystal Cinema’, and ‘10000 Stars.”
Holly Fraser, Editor in Chief of WePresent said: “Over the past year, WePresent has worked closely with Marina Abramović to bring her legacy to the digital realm in three separate projects, this being the final phase. As we look ahead to new beginnings following the pandemic, we conclude this special collaboration with a hybrid digital and physical experience that celebrates the artist’s creative process and inspiration. Using WeTransfer’s knowledge of design and media, we have brought her practice to millions of people around the world in a variety of ways, adding something new to the cultural landscape. We hope to inspire the general public and artists of tomorrow with the work and life of one of our most important living artists.”
Traces at Old Truman Brewery, London will be open from 10th - 12th September. Traces online will be available to experience on WePresent's website HERE.
With limited capacity, tickets will be available to book on Dice from 18 August HERE.
Follow the journey of Traces on @wepresent
*ENDS*
For press enquiries, contact PURPLE:
Notes to Editors
Traces presented by Marina Abramović and WePresent
Opening times: 10th - 12th September 2021, 10am - 5pm
Free admission - pre-booking by time slot is essential
Old Truman Brewery, 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QR
Marina Abramović
Since the beginning of her career in Belgrade during the early 1970s, Marina Abramović has pioneered performance art, creating some of the form's most important early works. Exploring her physical and mental limits, she has withstood pain, exhaustion, and danger in her quest for emotional and spiritual transformation.
Abramović was awarded the Golden Lion for Best Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale. In 2010, Abramović had her first major U.S. retrospective and simultaneously performed for over 700 hours in “The Artist is Present” at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Abramović founded Marina Abramović Institute (MAI), a platform for immaterial and long durational work to create new possibilities for collaboration among thinkers of all fields.
Her most recent publication is Walk Through Walls: A Memoir, Published by Crown Archetype on October 25, 2016. Her retrospective The Cleaner opened at Moderna Museet, Stockholm in February 2017 and has toured to seven additional European venues, ending at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Serbia in 2019. In September 2020 the Bayerische Staatsoper presented the world premiere of 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, which will continue to tour to other venues in 2021. And she will soon present her solo exhibition at the Royal Academy in London, and become the first female artist in the institution’s 250 year history to occupy the entire gallery space with her work.
About WePresent
WePresent is WeTransfer’s digital arts platform, acting as the company’s cultural torchbearer to a monthly audience of 4 million in 190 countries. Collaborating with emerging young talent to renowned artists such as Marina Abramovic, Riz Ahmed, FKA twigs or Bernardine Evaristo, WePresent showcases the best in art, photography, film, music, literature and more, championing diversity in everything it does. The platform’s commissions range from editorial features to films, illustrations, photography series, events, installations and social media activations, with an aim to offer a fresh take on the magic and mystery of creative ideas.
https://wepresent.wetransfer.com
About WeTransfer
Having made its name in the game of quick and simple file-sharing, WeTransfer has grown into an end-to-end suite of digital solutions with users in 190 countries. WeTransfer’s set of tools are specifically designed to enable creative professionals to inspire, conceive, share, and deliver their work, enabling collaboration and co-creation along the whole creative process. Collect is the go-to app people turn to for saving, organising and sharing inspiration. Paste® is the collaborative presentation tool of choice for fast-moving teams. Paper® helps creative minds sketch, paint, and draw. And of course there’s the original file-sharing platform providing a simple and seamless way to share ideas. The company showcases its global creative community on WePresent, WeTransfer’s digital arts platform to a monthly global audience of 4 million.
As a certified B Corporation™, WeTransfer strives to use business as a force for good. Since the beginning WeTransfer has donated up to 30% of advertising real estate to raise awareness for artists, creative work, and the world’s most pressing issues such as climate change and gun reform. This has led to partnerships with artists and organizations like Björk, John Legend, Solange Knowles, the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the UN Development Program.