Michael Johnson on performance art

Marina Abramovic

Michael Johnson, who has made a welcome return to blogging of late, has a new one up on "Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present (Thoughts on 'Performance Art')" Excerpt:

I meditate, smoke cannabis, read Finnegans Wake, listen to Bach/Stockhausen/Coltrane/Sun Ra/Vilayat Khan/Balinese Monkey Music/Pink Floyd, have sex, do math or logic puzzles, eat very spicy foods, sit in a hot bath in the dark with earplugs and eyeshades on, engage with sophisticated technology, watch films: voila!: non-ordinary states. I think this came with the Instruction Manual for the owner of a Mind. Many seem to have displaced their manual. Personally, I model all of these wonderful gimmicks as sorts of things and of a piece with the practice of magick. Your Mileage May Vary. To me, it's all Drugs. Try to stop me from doing my bathtub routine, DEA!

I really do need to tackle Finnegans Wake. (Right now I'm reading The Most Dangerous Book, about Ulysses. Very interesting so far. ) Related: New blog post by PQ on the winding and reconnecting river that is Finnegans Wake.