Dia de los Muertos
Today is Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico. The holiday is traditionally celebrated on November 1st and 2nd, though it can extend to other days depending on the location.
The purpose of the holiday is to remember and pay respects to family members and friends who have died. Holiday traditions include using calaveras (skulls or skeletons).
Today we look at a 2010 exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York featuring the works of Serbian conceptual and performance artist Marina Abramović. One of the works was a live performance by several performers called Nude with Skeleton (above).
The performer was lying down naked, covered by a skeleton. The performer did not move, though the skeleton might move a bit as the performer breathed. Museum visitors could come and look as closely as they wanted to. Although this was not created for Dia de los Muertos, it is certainly appropriate for us to view on this day.
Several performers alternated to provide coverage for the 18 days that the exhibit was at the museum and the many hours each day that the museum was open.
Another performer.
And another.
And another.
If you think the purpose of the skeleton was to cover the performer for modesty's sake, think again. Another "performance" work in the exhibit, called Imponderabilia, featured a totally naked male performer and female performer standing in a doorway between rooms, so museum visitors going from one room to the other had to squeeze between the naked performers (above).
We end by observing that in Mexico, the message of Dia de los Muertos is that death is part of life, and the dead are not forgotten.
