Untitled 2010, photos from the performance, variable size
“LIUBA, visual artist and performance artist known internationally, works with video, photo and urban interactive performance.
The unpredictability of human reactions to an unexpected and unusual act, like a hug from a stranger, makes the performance a kind of meta-language between social studies and artistic gesture. The performance touches some taboos and phobias endemic in our society which has now basically removed spontaneity and physicality from normal human relationships.
For Artissima 2010 LIUBA decided to create this new performance based on the theme of the embrace and involved directly the public visiting the exhibition. The artist walks through the corridors of the event dressed in white, barefoot, unexpectedly embracing people chosen at random. The hug may be more or less physical, long, affectionate, tender, depending on the sensitivity of those with whom it interacts.
The idea was born from the artist’s disappointment in human relations within the art world and in the coldness of the relationship with the people met in various contexts. “We often meet people for projects, business, convenience, duty .. but the dynamics of meetings are almost always cold, impersonal, rushed and stressed. We are losing the ability to establish relationships ‘hot’ with others, affective, starting a dialogue with the individuality and personality of each one.”
Olivia Spatola
All photos: © LIUBA 2010 – photos by Ivo Martin
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Dedicated to Rossana and Gianni, with gratitude and love