Art Must Be..
Art Must Be Clean, Artist Must Be Clean - mixed technique on textile (baby bib)
Size: 34 x 25 cm, 2016
Anton Terziev
Photo: © the artist
Courtesy of the artist
after "Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful" video by Marina Abramovic(*1946), 1975
Never shown in public
*Art Must Be Clean, Artist Must Be Clean*by Anton Terziev is a playful and incisive reimagining of Marina Abramović’s iconic performance piece, *Art Must Be Beautiful, Artist Must Be Beautiful*. Here, the artist takes Abramović’s conceptual framework—an examination of the pressures placed on both artwork and artist—and transplants it onto an unlikely yet utterly apt medium: a baby bib. The result is an object that feels both disarmingly mundane and slyly subversive.
Terziev’s choice of a baby bib as the canvas for his statement is particularly witty. A bib is a symbol of nourishment and protection, traditionally associated with infancy, innocence, and the unavoidable messiness of feeding. By contrast, Abramović’s original piece confronted the rigid, almost ritualistic standards of beauty imposed upon art and the artist. Terziev’s twist on the phrase to focus on *cleanliness*—both for art and the artist—points to how contemporary culture similarly fixates on purity, sanitation, and a kind of moral or aesthetic “clean slate.” This gentle piece of textile thus transforms into a commentary on the constant drive to sanitize or perfect both creative output and personal image.
The bib’s surface is adorned with a photographic image of Abramović herself, referencing the lineage of performance art history and the persistent echo of her influence. Above and below, the text “Art Must Be Clean” and “Artist Must Be Clean” is rendered in a style that deliberately recalls handmade embroidery, suggesting a tension between the handcrafted and the conceptual. This tactile, intimate approach—stitching on a baby bib—contrasts with the severity and directness of Abramović’s original pronouncement. In so doing, Terziev bridges the lofty realm of performance art with a quotidian, domestic object, highlighting how the boundaries between art, life, and care can blur in surprising ways.
The color scheme and soft texture of the bib stand in gentle counterpoint to the pointedness of the statement. The overall composition harnesses humor: a baby bib is meant to catch spills and stains, yet here it’s emblazoned with the imperative that art and artist must remain “clean.” The resulting irony invites us to question how “clean” art can—or should—remain, given the inherent messiness of both creation and human existence. Is the demand for purity a protective measure, or is it an impossible ideal that stifles authenticity and experimentation?
Terziev’s piece stands out for its accessible scale, its whimsical surface, and its potent conceptual layering. It continues a dialogue about artistic standards and personal image that Abramović set in motion decades ago, but it does so with an irreverent twist that encourages viewers to rethink the original performance’s solemnity. In the end, *Art Must Be Clean, Artist Must Be Clean*underscores how art can spring from the most ordinary of objects to challenge, provoke, and amuse—all while paying homage to the enduring influence of performance art’s radical pioneers.