In April 1988, Marina Abramović and Ulay (Frank Uwe Laysiepen, who died yesterday) staged The Lovers, one of the most epic works in the history of performance art. Stationed at opposite ends of the Great Wall of China, the famed artistic couple set forth to walk some 5,995 kilometres of the Wall and meet at Erlang Shen, Shenmu, a Buddhist temple in the Shaanxi province, where they were to be married. But things did not work out as they had planned.
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They chose the Wall because it was the only manmade creation visible from space, and they recognised something of this scale and scope which made it the perfect setting for a work of art. It took them eight years to secure permission, during which time their relationship had deteriorated.
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Their grand romantic gesture revealed just how arduous the relationship had become, as Abramović found herself climbing through piles of rubble where the Wall had fallen into disrepair. She was accompanied by a translator who was forced to walk beside her as punishment from the government for making an underground photography book about American breakdancers. For the first two months, they barely spoke – while entire villages came out to see a woman walking the wall alone.
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