Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present
HBO Films
Jul 01, 2012
Web Exclusive
For 736 and one-half hours, a woman rigidly sits on a chair in a brightly-lit gallery within New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She does not allow herself to eat, to speak, to stretch out or to rest in any other way. Over three months, more than 750,000 patrons are invited to sit in a chair across from the human exhibit, staring her straight in the eyes for as long as they please. This work, titled “The Artist Is Present”, is the central piece in the biggest exhibition of Marina Abramović‘s career.
For four decades, the Serbian performance artist has challenged audiences and their notions of what does and doesn’t constitute as art. Her works are as physically demanding as they are conceptually, often involving bodily harm, or at least the threat thereof. In one historical piece chronicled in this film, the artist carves a star into her stomach with a razor. In another, she repeatedly runs nude and faceplants against a wall. In perhaps her most famous work, she provided an assortment of items—ranging from honey and a rose to a scalpel and a loaded handgun—and allowed her audience to use the items on her in any way they’d wish. By the end of the six-hour performance, Abramović had her clothes cut away, had been stabbed with thorns, and had a loaded gun held to her head.
Director Matthew Akers balances two approaches within his documentary. Granted full access by the artist during and in the months leading up to her MoMA retrospective and the longest performance of her career, it’s an intriguing behind-the-scenes portrait of an artist who’s become the equivalent of a rock star in her field. The second, biographical aspect gives crucial context for those unfamiliar with her work, and also provides wonderful emotional payoff later in the film. A particularly moving moment comes when Abramović is reunited with the mono-monikered Ulay—her former romantic and performance partner of more than a decade—during her MoMA performance.
Marina Abramović The Artist Is Present paints a wonderful portrait of its subject, but assumes you’re on board with the far-out performance pieces she’s so famous for creating. Works and concepts are explained away in one or two lines, leaving much to the audience’s own assessments of them. Your enjoyment of the film may boil down to your ability to answer the question that has plagued Abramović throughout her career: “But why is it art?” It’s a quandary that neither the documentarians nor their subject make much attempt to answer here.
Author rating: 7/10
Average reader rating: 6/10
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