Seven Ways to Make You Squirm

First, a cautionary note about tonight's screening of the film "Seven Easy Pieces" at the Hirshhorn: The easily shocked or squeamish will probably want to quickly leave/run screaming from the theater.

And that's a perfectly understandable response, given the nudity, self-mutilation, self-flagellation and sheer intensity of renowned performance artist Marina Abramovic 's seven-part work.

But for those who do stay through Babette Mangolte's documentary, the screening offers a rare opportunity to see (really, to immerse oneself in) works that include re-creations of groundbreaking performances from the 1960s and 1970s, including those of Joseph Beuys and Valie Export.

In November 2005, Abramovic stretched seven short, identity-exploring and politically loaded pieces (only two of which, "Lips of Thomas" and the far cheerier "Entering the Other Side," were her own) into seven-hour happenings on each of seven days at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, all as part of the first Performa biennial.

To see Abramovic pressing her body into glass as hard as she can for hours (from Bruce Nauman's "Body Pressure"), cradling a dead hare (Beuys's "How to Explain Pictures to a Dead Hare") and carving into her nude flesh with a razor ("Lips of Thomas") only exposes the irony of the title "Seven Easy Pieces": There is clearly nothing easy about any of it, for the artist or the viewer.

(Abramovic isn't a mere copycat. She went to estates and even to the doors of the artists whose work she hoped to reprise to get their permission in the interest of preservation.)

For the Beuys piece, she took a literal route: She covers her head in honey and gold leaf, just as he did. For Export's "Action Pants: Genital Panic," she offers a twist; although Export walked through an art-house cinema wearing pants with the crotch cut out to force audience members to face her lady parts, Abramovic stands (yes, in crotchless pants) with a fake rifle, giving the whole scene an air of fearfulness and paranoia.

Do we need to tell you this is not for children?

"Seven Easy Pieces" is screened tonight. Free. 8 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum, Ring Auditorium, lower level, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. 202-633-1000.

SAVE THE DATE

[ CONCERT ] John Legend He's been busy of late making the election-season rounds (he played the Democratic National Convention), but that'll be over soon, leaving Legend time to promote a new record. "Evolver" is due late this month, and Legend will kick off a world tour in mid-November. If you're looking for a tease of what the record will sound like, check out his single "Green Light," featuring Andre 3000, which is moving up the charts. Or you could just see Legend himself when he lands at the Lyric Opera House in Baltimore and DAR Constitution Hall in December. Tickets for both shows go on sale tomorrow at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. The Lyric Opera House show, set for Dec. 8, is $73; tickets for DAR, on Dec. 9, are $71. Lyric Opera House, 140 W. Mount Royal Ave., Baltimore; and DAR Constitution Hall, 18th and C streets NW. 202-397-7328.

[ THE SCENE ] Two Screenings to Get You in Halloween Mode The AFI Silver's Halloween screenings of "Nosferatu," F.W. Murnau's silent 1922 vampire tale with live accompaniment, are now a tradition. In Annapolis, Live Arts Maryland and St. Anne's Episcopal Church will screen the 1925 silent film "Phantom of the Opera," also with live accompaniment. Take your pick. "Nosferatu" is set for Halloween night; tickets for the screening often sell out, so get them in advance. Organist Larry Molinaro performs his score for "Phantom" at its Oct. 25 screening at St. Anne's in Annapolis (the effect, say organizers, is more campy than terrifying). "Nosferatu" is $20; AFI members, $15; children under 12, $5. 7 and 9:30 p.m. Oct. 31. AFI Silver Theatre, 8633 Colesville Rd., Silver Spring. 301-495-6720 or visit http://www.afi.com/silver. "Phantom of the Opera" is $15; students are $10. 7 p.m. Oct. 25. Church Circle, Annapolis. 410-280-5640 or visit http://www.marylandhall.org.

THE DISTRICT

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