Practice and Research of Durational Performance by Marilyn Arsem

Speaker: Marilyn Arsem (Performance Artist)

Language: English and Japanese (Interpretation: Satoshi Ikeda)

Date & Time: Monday, May 26, 2025, 9:00–11:30

Format: Online / In-person (Capacity: 30 people)

Venue: Community Salon, 3rd Floor, International Exchange Building,
Tokyo University of the Arts, Ueno Campus 

Access Map (No.19)　Please note that the venue may change. If it does, we will notify you accordingly.

Eligibility: Students and general public
Organized by: Nagashima Lab, Graduate School of Global Arts,
Tokyo University of the Arts + IPAMIA (#1)
Inquiries: ipamiarchive@gmail.com

Online Form: https://forms.gle/XYKKHN1TfxNpUohs6

We are pleased to announce that, as a joint project between the Nagashima Laboratory at GA and IPAMIA, we will be hosting a lecture—both in-person and online—featuring artist Marilyn Arsem from Boston, USA.

Since 1975, Marilyn Arsem has created numerous live events, ranging from solo performances to large-scale site-specific works. Based in Boston, USA, she has presented her work at festivals, galleries, and museums in 30 countries across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

Arsem also taught at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (SMFA), where she organized and taught a variety of courses covering different aspects of performance art—its history and theory—from 1987 until her retirement in 2014. Her teaching focused primarily on MFA students and included subjects such as site-specific work, durational work, Fluxus and Dada, performance in conceptual art, and collaborative practices. She has increased her teaching of performance workshops internationally.

Much of Marilyn Arsem’s work centers around durational performance. Durational performance refers to performance practices that extend far beyond conventional timeframes and often involve significant physical endurance. While it may be less familiar in Japan, it has been widely practiced in Europe and the United States as a form of performance art that explores the philosophical dimensions of time and embodied experience. Arsem is arguably one of the leading experts in this field. In this talk, she will speak about her own performance works, her theoretical research, and also share examples of works by other artists.

Arsem is also the founder of Mobius, one of the most renowned artist-run organizations in the United States. For nearly five decades, she has played a vital role in fostering the creation of new art across generations in the Boston area, while also actively contributing to international exchange.Isn’t the ongoing work in the community and the development of cooperation with others one of the most interesting topics for young artists today? We look forward to hearing about her experiences and insights in these areas as well.

#1
IPAMIA stands for Independent Performance Artists’ Moving Images Archive, established in 2016. It primarily functions as an archive of video documentation of performance art, but it also collects printed materials such as flyers and texts. Through its website and events, IPAMIA makes this information publicly accessible.
As a practice-based project, DPPT (Durational Performance Project Tokyo) involves four artists who not only engage in durational performance as a form of artistic practice but also conduct research on it. The members of DPPT are Ishida Takahiro, Kitayama Seiko, Yamaoka Sakiko, and Yamazaki Chihiro.This event is organized by these four artists.
https://ipamia.net/