Marilyn Arsem has created over 180 works of performance art since 1975, and in the process she has helped to define the genre itself. This monograph on her life’s work is among the first of its kind to embrace e-books’ capacity to convey key aspects of durational, live art through multimedia. It grants access to rare videos and slideshows of Arsem’s past performances, as well as to newly conducted audio interviews with the artist. Arsem discusses performance art on her own terms in a preface and a final chapter about her current work, and MFA curators contextualize her practice and recurring themes in an introduction and entry-based chapters on women’s work, cultures of violence, natural resources, and time and mortality. This enhanced e-book celebrates an artist who has spent her career pushing the boundaries of artistic experience, and at the same time, expands the established boundaries of how books present performance.

Updated in November 2016, this e-book now includes a chapter on Arsem's 100-day performance at the MFA, 100 Ways to Consider Time.

About the Authors

Liz Munsell is Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art & MFA Programs, position supported by Lorraine Bressler, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Edward Saywell is Chair, Linde Family Wing for Contemporary Art, and Arthur K. Solomon Curator of Modern Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.