Crazy Stuff at the MoMA: “The Artist is Present” Review
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| 6 CommentsThe Moma’s latest exhibit, “The Artist is Present,” a retrospective of the work of performance artist Marina Abramovic, is a sprawling, complicated, astounding, and maddening mess of images and ego. Outlining forty years of performing, “The Artist is Present” recreates the work of this unique artist, through video, models, and live actors. In addition, Abramovic herself will perform in a new piece, “The Artist is Present-“ she will sit at a table throughout museum hours, inviting patrons to sit across from her, silently, as long as they wish.
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Since the late 1960s, Abramovic has preformed solo works and pieces with her one-time partner, Frank Uwe Laysiepen, throughout the world. Born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, some of her work deals with Balkan ritual and conflict in Eastern Europe, but most of it revolves around the frailty and strength of the human body. Her works and her personality have had influence in the art world as well as pop culture- one of her pieces is fictionalized in an episode of Sex and the City. Having achieved great fame in her field, Abramovic has turned her attention to preserving her art, first by recreating projects herself of artists she admires, then by establishing the Marina Abramovic Institute for Preservation of Performance Art (set to open 2012).
The retrospective at the Moma means to prove that performance art can be preserved. It features videos of Abramovic screaming for hours until she loses her voice, dancing naked until she collapses, and quite forcefully brushing her hair. In one video, Ulay and Abramovic formed a human doorway that museum patrons had to squeeze through to enter the rest of the exhibit. This human door is recreated in a corner of the exhibition space in the Moma; after following a guard’s instructions, guests can slide in between a (completely still and silent) man and woman. There is also a naked woman lying under a skeleton (apparently to make it look as though the skeleton is breathing, although I didn’t notice) and another sitting what appeared to be a bicycle seat up on a wall, mirroring a crucifixion.
Lively debates about Abramovic’s motives (one woman said about the artist, “It’s all about her, her, her”) and questions about meaning (I told my guest “I’m not getting the men humping the ground video”) abounded in the gallery. Some people were angry, some were confused. Most of Abramovic’s works aren’t designed to anger or delight the audience, or even create a “happening” that involves the audience. Granted, these things do happen. But they are not Abramovic’s motive- she seems to be mainly interested in the limits of her own body. Though her pieces certainly make the audience think (and argue with each other), it’s hard to tell if Abramovic intends to attribute meaning to these pieces, or if they are indeed just about her.
These motives become even more complicated when considering the issue of re-staging past performance. If the important part of the performance is Abramovic herself, why bother to re-stage at all? Without the personality behind the performance (and the years of performing and reputation Abramovic has built up over the years), the recreations fall a little flat. I found myself wanting to see her, the person behind all the original and crazy ideas, rather than the people she trained.
Even though the artist is present metaphorically AND literally, the exhibit holds the audience at arm’s length. This, of course, is the point. Despite having the audience sit across from her at the table, Abramovic doesn’t supply any answers to us, but asks us rather to think and come to our own conclusions. For this reason, “The Artist is Present” simply can not be missed, as it is something you will think (and talk) about for days to come.
“Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present” at the Museum of Modern Art (212-708-9400; moma.org), now through May 31st.
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Abramovic “…seems to be mainly interested in the limits of her own body.”
Huh? No, no, no. A free diver, a rock climber, a BASE jumper, a marathoner: those are people interested the limits of their own body. Ms. Abramovic is concerned with how much bewilderment she can cause a viewer.
Some observers seem to think Ms. Abramovic’s work is shocking or disturbing. Wrong. It’s hilarious. Watch her black & white video of two people slapping each other repeatedly, or a someone running with a bungy cord then snapping back into a wall. Now, think “Three Stooges” and watch ‘em again from a whole new perspective. Ms. Abramovic’s and her crew of out-of-work NYC actors (“Can you stand utterly still and stare at a partner for hours?” … “Absolutely. I had a Meisner class.”) — the nude and the clothed — are having the best laugh at your expense.
From an artistic perspective, that is not an aim wholly without merit. Taking the ridiculous seriously and seeing how an audience of chumps follows suit is the essence of performance art, and this is that straight-faced scam grilled to perfection.
I highly recommend Ms. Abramovic’s comedic schtick. Honestly, if you see a film of a group of naked men lying facedown in field humping the grass and don’t giggle, there is something very wrong with you. It made me wonder if it was an ad for a new Tiger Woods golf course, complete with 18 “holes.” Or if Earth Day had finally gone too far.
That’s not crazy. It’s wacky. Vive la différence!
– mm
LOL Thanks, Matt. Wacky is a good word for it.
> Ms. Abramovic is concerned with how much bewilderment she can cause a viewer
That’s what I would answer if someone asked me for my opinion of her work, and I felt like giving a politically correct, polite, truthful and sincere answer. I agree it’s funny stuff. So is my 2-year old sound asleep with her rear end pointing up in the air, like little kids sometimes do.
My not-politically-correct answer is that it’s talentless garbage, designed to get headlines, media coverage, and people talking. The suckers are MOMA, for falling for it.
A friend of mine here in NC has a neat piece of art in the MoMA. Check it out and let us all know how the response is. Great way to recycle cigarette machines and turn them into ways to have your own original artwork!!
Again, as we’re friends and this is not my work, I have no problem dropping a link.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Art-o-matR-Dont-Go-Round-Artless/234778157983?ref=mf
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Her approach is twentieth century and classically Freudian in that no interpretation is offered. She is not a doctor, of course, but a quiet mirror that compels chatty fans to seek what is in themselves, not her or her creations.
She’s learned that silence speaks volumes for her, and realizes, like G.B. Shaw, that it isn’t so important what your characters say to each other, but what playgoers say to each other after the performance.
Tell you, though, I’d absolutely love the chance to watch her sitting across from me for as long as I wish. That WOULD be a learning experience to take away. See? Now I’m doing what she wants of us, too.
Every 5-10 years “art” seems to take on crazier and more bewildering forms. More and more these days you can definitely classify something as art if it is beyond the norm. What I really think is the wealthy are just starting to take more medications with in turn scrambles their brains to think of more “art”. Then others who have has the same experiences can relate. So then they buy.
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