Pushing the boundaries : A study of disability aesthetics based on select performances by Marina Abramović

This master's thesis aims to investigate disability researcher Tobin Sieber's conceptualization of disability aesthetics. This concept is investigated in relation to performances by Marina Abramović, specifically Rhythm 2 (1974), Rhythm 0 (1974), Lips of Thomas (1975) and Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful (1975). The thesis examines questions about the possibility of applying the concept of disability aesthetics to an able-bodied artist's production. A disability aesthetic is characterized by representations that shape and thematize deficiency, damage and suffering. Also, a transformative process from able-bodied to disabled. The thesis concludes that the concept is more or less applicable to Abramovic’s production, since the transformative process of representing a disability aesthetic is something temporarily linked to the performance. The thesis also discusses that further research may instead examine and formulate the aesthetics of pain