Marina Abramovic Just Wants Conspiracy Theorists to Let Her Be

“I am an artist, not a Satanist,” the performance artist said after an online outcry prompted Microsoft to take down a video of her. It’s not the first time she’s faced the accusation.

On April 10, Microsoft uploaded a film to its YouTube account about Marina Abramovic, the Serbian performance artist known for pushing her body to the limit.

Ms. Abramovic’s work can be violent, sometimes bloody, but the Microsoft video was more innocuous: It was focused on “The Life,” in which museumgoers wear special headsets so that Ms. Abramovic seems to appear before then.

The video was essentially some P.R. fluff for the tech company’s role in the artwork, which is scheduled to be auctioned by Christie’s in October. But in one corner of the internet, it was seen as something else entirely: evidence of a Satanist conspiracy.

Soon after the film appeared, it was being discussed in those terms on Reddit and other social media platforms. An article on the conspiracy theory website Infowars accused Microsoft of working with a “witch,” a “black magic performer” and a “Luciferian individual.”

As the online clamor escalated, the YouTube clip racked up more than 24,000 dislikes. Microsoft took it down on April 14. “We recognize that our association with this project served as a catalyst for online attacks,” a Microsoft spokeswoman said in an email.

Ms. Abramovic said in a telephone interview that she was not consulted before Microsoft took the video down, adding that she had rarely spoken about her treatment by conspiracy theorists because she did not want to encourage them. She is breaking that silence now, she said, because she is fed up.

“I need to open my heart,” Ms. Abramovic said. “I really want to ask these people, ‘Can you stop with this? Can you stop harassing me? Can’t you see that this is just the art I’ve been doing for 50 years of my life?’”

Cont.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/21/arts/design/marina-abramovic-satanist-conspiracy-theory.html

FDA authorizes first at-home coronavirus diagnostic test

The US Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it has authorized the first at-home coronavirus diagnostic test that allows people to collect their own samples and mail them to a lab.

The FDA granted an emergency use authorization to LabCorp, which plans to make its Pixel by LabCorp COVID-19 Test home collection kits available in most states, with a doctor’s order, in the next few weeks.

“Throughout this pandemic we have been facilitating test development to ensure patients access to accurate diagnostics, which includes supporting the development of reliable and accurate at-home sample collection options,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

Users will be able to collect a sample from their nose using the kit, which will include Q-tip-style cotton swabs and saline, and mail it to LabCorp for testing, according to the announcement.

“It is important to note that this is not a general authorization for at-home collection of patient samples using other collection swabs, media, or tests, or for tests fully conducted at home, the FDA said.

The North Carolina-based LabCorp — which launched its lab test for the illness in March — currently conducts as many as 65,000 tests a day and offers results within two to four days, Reuters reported.

“The FDA’s around-the-clock work since this outbreak began has resulted in the authorization of more than 50 diagnostic tests and engagement with over 350 test developers,” Hahn said in the announcement.

“Specifically, for tests that include home sample collection, we worked with LabCorp to ensure the data demonstrated from at-home patient sample collection is as safe and accurate as sample collection at a doctor’s office, hospital or other testing site,” he added.

https://nypost.com/2020/04/21/fda-authorizes-first-at-home-coronavirus-diagnostic-test/