BERLIN TALK 2014

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 BERLIN  TALK

I  am so honored to be with you at the  TRANSART INSTITUTE.  And I thank Transart  for inviting me to this inspiring experience.

I am inviting 7 collaborators, the 7 CHAKRAETTES to come forward and collaborate with me and in return they will receive a PERFORMANCE ART CERTIFICATE. (INSTRUCTION: Please hum any long tone as I read.)

As you can see by this video, I am enjoying morphing myself, I am enjoying abandoning my ego and identity , I am enjoying shedding my birth skin and trading my personality to be someone else. In 1975 this became one of my performance strategies when I sat in front of a video camera for a year and talked as 7 different fictional and international personas  inspired by Duchamp's  female self, Eleanor Antin's King, Diane Torre's male drag and Cindy Sherman's cast of characters.

 I chose to be Mother Teresa because I always make art about my life and because I have a neurologic condition which spasms me without my permission, one day when I was doubled over, like this(DEMONSTRATE), my good internal voice said, "Linda, you look just like Mother Teresa!" And just like that Mother Theresa the Second, was born.

This video references my early work which has always been based not only on a visual component but on vow taking and structurally sculpting long periods of time. For example, Mother Theresa the Second appeared for three days, three hours a day...These kinds of endurance number games I began using in 1971 and continue 43 years later in my current practice.

My longest endurance was titled 14 YEARS OF LIVING ART, 1984-1998.   The CHAKRAETTES will demonstrate the 7 sites of the 7 Chakras for us. (INSTRUCT THEM).

See website: www.lindamontano.com  and go to 14 YEARS OF LIVING ART.

(CHAKRAETTES will now continue long tones to accompany my chanting.)

We artists have important jobs . We must thank ourselves for bringing so much joy to the universe and we do this because we are:

PROPHETIC   SEERS
TRAMA   TRANSFORMERS
ALCHEMICAL   TRAVELLERS
EARTH   AMBASSADORS
SOPHISTICATED   SUFFERERS
RISK   REFORMULATORS
ENDURANCE   ADDICTORS
PERFORMANCE   STRIPPERS
LEFT BRAIN  AVOIDERS
BEHAVIOR  MODIFIERS
LIFE/ART PLAYERS
GRIEF  EMBRACERS
SELF  HEALERS
FIERCE  FOCUSERS

NERVOUS SYSTEM  REPROGRAMMERS

SONIC   CLEANERS

STORY  RE-TELLERS

PEACE  RECONFIGURERS

DEATH  FACERS
HERMETICAL  LONERS
BEAUTY  DUPLICATORS
TRUTH  SAYERS
DREAM  PROVIDERS
AND
INTENSE  LOVERS

 

BOB DYLAN VIDEO.

 

In memory of Klaus and in support of Cella at this time of her grieving, let's all send a long tone of love to her. Inhale, let any sound come out on the exhale, we will continue the sound until it ends.