A clothbound companion to Marina Abramovic's tribute to Maria Callas, a new performance that recreates the iconic opera diva's famous onstage death scenes An opera production conceived by the legendary performance artist Marina Abramovic (born 1946), 7 Deaths of Maria Callasis a continuation of the artist's lifelong meditation on the female body as a source of both power and pain. Here Abramovic turns her focus to renowned opera singer Maria Callas, whose stunning soprano voice captivated audiences around the world in the mid-20th century. Though she remains one of opera's greatest singers, Callas' life was beset by struggle and scandal. Today, the opera diva is remembered for having been a figure of both talent and tragedy. Through a mix of narrative opera and film, Abramovic recreates seven iconic death scenes from the American-born Greek singer's most important roles--in La Traviata, Tosca, Otello, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoorand Norma--followed by an interpretive recreation of Callas' own death performed onstage by Abramovic herself. This clothbound volume serves as a companion to the live performance and provides insight into the conception, planning and execution of Abramovic's project, probing the many creative elements that make up this dynamic exploration of female suffering.

A clothbound companion to Marina Abramovic's tribute to Maria Callas, a new performance that recreates the iconic opera diva's famous onstage death scenes An opera production conceived by the legendary performance artist Marina Abramovic (born 1946), 7 Deaths of Maria Callasis a continuation of the artist's lifelong meditation on the female body as a source of both power and pain. Here Abramovic turns her focus to renowned opera singer Maria Callas, whose stunning soprano voice captivated audiences around the world in the mid-20th century. Though she remains one of opera's greatest singers, Callas' life was beset by struggle and scandal. Today, the opera diva is remembered for having been a figure of both talent and tragedy. Through a mix of narrative opera and film, Abramovic recreates seven iconic death scenes from the American-born Greek singer's most important roles--in La Traviata, Tosca, Otello, Madame Butterfly, Carmen, Lucia di Lammermoorand Norma--followed by an interpretive recreation of Callas' own death performed onstage by Abramovic herself. This clothbound volume serves as a companion to the live performance and provides insight into the conception, planning and execution of Abramovic's project, probing the many creative elements that make up this dynamic exploration of female suffering.

Based largely on four days of conversations between the artist and the psychoanalyst, the book includes excerpts from those conversations

On the proposed Marina Abramović Institute in Hudson, NY.

“I had experienced absolute freedom—I had felt that my body was without boundaries, limitless; that pain didn’t matter, that nothing mattered at all—and it intoxicated me.” In 2010, more than 750,000 people stood in line at Marina Abramović’s MoMA retrospective for the chance to sit across from her and communicate with her nonverbally in an unprecedented durational performance that lasted more than 700 hours. This celebration of nearly fifty years of groundbreaking performance art demonstrated once again that Marina Abramović is truly a force of nature. The child of Communist war-hero parents under Tito’s regime in postwar Yugoslavia, she was raised with a relentless work ethic. Even as she was beginning to build an international artistic career, Marina lived at home under her mother’s abusive control, strictly obeying a 10 p.m. curfew. But nothing could quell her insatiable curiosity, her desire to connect with people, or her distinctly Balkan sense of humor—all of which informs her art and her life. The beating heart of Walk Through Walls is an operatic love story—a twelve-year collaboration with fellow performance artist Ulay, much of which was spent penniless in a van traveling across Europe—a relationship that began to unravel and came to a dramatic end atop the Great Wall of China. Marina’s story, by turns moving, epic, and dryly funny, informs an incomparable artistic career that involves pushing her body past the limits of fear, pain, exhaustion, and danger in an uncompromising quest for emotional and spiritual transformation. A remarkable work of performance in its own right, Walk Through Walls is a vivid and powerful rendering of the unparalleled life of an extraordinary artist.

Norman Mailer’s dazzlingly rich, deeply evocative novel of ancient Egypt breathes life into the figures of a lost era: the eighteenth-dynasty Pharaoh Rameses and his wife, Queen Nefertiti; Menenhetet, their creature, lover, and victim; and the gods and mortals that surround them in intimate and telepathic communion. Mailer’s reincarnated protagonist is carried through the exquisite gardens of the royal harem, along the majestic flow of the Nile, and into the terrifying clash of battle. An extraordinary work of inventiveness, Ancient Evenings lives on in the mind long after the last page has been turned. Praise for Ancient Evenings “Astounding, beautifully written . . . a leap of imagination that crosses three millennia to Pharaonic Egypt.”—USA Today “Mailer makes a miraculous present out of age-deep memories, bringing to life the rhythms, the images, the sensuousness of a lost time.”—The New York Times “Mailer’s Egypt is a haunting and magical place. . . . The reader wallows in the scope, depth, the sheer magnitude and—yes—the fertility of his imagination.”—The Washington Post Book World “An enormous pyramid of a novel [reminiscent of] Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow and Carlos Fuentes’s Terra Nostra.”—Los Angeles Herald Examiner Praise for Norman Mailer “[Norman Mailer] loomed over American letters longer and larger than any other writer of his generation.”—The New York Times “A writer of the greatest and most reckless talent.”—The New Yorker “Mailer is indispensable, an American treasure.”—The Washington Post “A devastatingly alive and original creative mind.”—Life “Mailer is fierce, courageous, and reckless and nearly everything he writes has sections of headlong brilliance.”—The New York Review of Books “The largest mind and imagination [in modern] American literature . . . Unlike just about every American writer since Henry James, Mailer has managed to grow and become richer in wisdom with each new book.”—Chicago Tribune “Mailer is a master of his craft. His language carries you through the story like a leaf on a stream.”—The Cincinnati Post

"A devoted and brilliant achievement." The New York Review of Books In 1948, as civil war ravaged Greece, children were abducted and sent to communist "camps" behind the Iron Curtain. Eleni Gatzoyiannis, 41, defied the traditions of her small village and the terror of the communist insurgents to arrange for the escape of her three daughters and her son, Nicola. For that act, she was imprisoned, tortured, and executed in cold blood. Nicholas Gage joined his father in Massachusetts at the age of nine and grew up to be a top investigative reporter for the New York Times. And finally he returned to Greece to uncover the story he cared about most -- the story of his mother's heroic life and tragic death.

In 1889 two Russian immigrants, Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, met in a coffee shop on the Lower East Side. Over the next fifty years Emma and Sasha would be fast friends, fleeting lovers, and loyal comrades. This dual biography offers an unprecedented glimpse into their intertwined lives, the lasting influence of the anarchist movement they shaped, and their unyielding commitment to equality and justice. Berkman shocked the country in 1892 with "the first terrorist act in America," the failed assassination of the industrialist Henry Clay Frick for his crimes against workers. Passionate and pitiless, gloomy yet gentle, Berkman remained Goldman's closest confidant though the two were often separated-by his fourteen-year imprisonment and by Emma's growing fame as the champion of a multitude of causes, from sexual liberation to freedom of speech. The blazing sun to Sasha's morose moon, Emma became known as "the most dangerous woman in America." Through an attempted prison breakout, multiple bombing plots, and a dramatic deportation from America, these two unrelenting activists insisted on the improbable ideal of a socially just, self-governing utopia, a vision that has shaped movements across the past century, most recently Occupy Wall Street. Sasha and Emma is the culminating work of acclaimed historian of anarchism Paul Avrich. Before his death, Avrich asked his daughter to complete his magnum opus. The resulting collaboration, epic in scope, intimate in detail, examines the possibilities and perils of political faith and protest, through a pair who both terrified and dazzled the world.

This remarkable book brings you face-to-face with an incredible selection of pioneering women who have reshaped the creative industries. From legendary visual artists Yoko Ono and Tracey Emin, to groundbreaking musicians like Annie Lennox and Debbie Harry, to fashion giants such as Miuccia Prada and Diane von Fürstenberg, this collection of original interviews and Polaroid photographs of almost 30 trailblazing women spans creative industries, nationalities and generations to bring together a never-before- published collection of leading voices. Featuring an astounding range of names including FKA Twigs, Isabelle Huppert and Rei Kawakubo, this book creates both a portrait of each individual woman and – collectively – a powerful portrait of the impact of women on the creative industries. Each pioneering creative is interviewed and photographed by the Mexican artist Hugo Huerta Marin. The women speak openly with Huerta Marin about their challenges and joys; their vulnerabilities and their triumphs. Cate Blanchett reflects on the differences between acting on stage and in film; Marina AbramoviÐ discusses her most radical piece of performance art; Annie Lennox reminisces about London in the 1970s; Carrie Mae Weems discusses the relationship between race and photography —these and other conversations are further brought to life by Huerta Marin’s candid, intimate Polaroid images. These photographs, which allow readers to lock eyes with their subjects, reflect the natural tone of each conversation, allowing the reader rare insight into the lives of these renowned artists. Inspiring and revealing, this collection of interviews and photographs gives readers an unparalleled connection with some of the most fascinating women working in the arts today.