Museum Visits: MOMA: Marina Abramovic "The Artist Is Present"

Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present

I have never been interested in performance art. Actually I can say I have always been the one to say that it makes no sense and that its just crap in general. I guess I always felt that way because maybe I didn’t understand the whole idea behind performance art or any that I’ve seen I just have had bad experiences with it. On this trip to the city I can say I was a little more than not thrilled about seeing performance art and even though in some of my other classes we discussed Marina Abramovic and her performance art I still really was not interested in going but I had to so I went in kind of thinking this was going to suck….

The MOMA was the last museum that we went to and I guess the saying is right “saved the best for last.” When we walked in the first thing I saw was a big balloon person thing by Tim Burton so that really set the tone for some interesting stuff to come. We decided to go all the way to the top and work our way down because it was the easiest way not to miss anything and we were leaving from the MOMA anyway. I saw so many artists work that I’ve only seen in pictures before I got to the “The Artist is Present” exhibit that it only got me excited to see more. I saw “Target and Faces” by Jasper Johns for the first time in real life and that just made my day. I really don’t know why but he has always been one of my favorite artists and being able to stand by a piece that I had only seen in pictures before was so amazing.

Finally we stepped on the floor of the exhibit “The Artist is Present” and I was really nervous about it and as we walked in my whole attitude changed right away. I walked up to the piece where the man and woman were standing staring and pointing at each other. I was in complete awh that these people could have so much discipline to be able to stand there and not move one bit. I went on from that going around the corner to see another man and woman back to back with their hair tied together. I found this to be really interesting because it wasn’t about how the two people were interacting but it was about how their hair interacted with each others. The connection between the two people was seamless.

Finally I got to the piece that I heard so much about, the naked man and woman standing in the doorway. When I stepped up I stood and watched people pass through for a few minutes. I really wanted to go through the people but I was kind of turned off by the idea because I hate when people touch me, so I stayed and watched to asses how I could pass through these two people and to see how others would pass, facing the man or facing the woman. Finally I decided that I was going to “man up” and go through the people, I decided that I was going to face the man thinking that it would be more comfortable instead of facing the woman who was about the same height as me and would be rubbing chests if I passed facing her. So it came my turn and as I passed through I thought I was going to take a minute to look in the mans eyes but as I got to the people I passed through as fast as possible. When I came out on the other side I had a huge smile on my face because one, I thought that it was awesome and two, because I accomplished the fear! I really enjoyed this piece because I think that it confronted a lot of people with this uncomfortable feeling or awkwardness. Like for me I was uncomfortable about touching other people but after I passed through I was almost proud of myself for going through and being able to pass by these two naked people. I also liked how it made you question your choice of how you were going to pass through the people. Either you faced the man or you faced the woman and I could over hear men not so sure about what they were going to do. Eric even said “either way I’m playing swords with the guy or being a** f***** by him.” For a girl it was even weird too because either you passed the man and had naked man body on you or you passed the woman which in my case just made me super uncomfortable. I liked that it had you questioning the ways of passage and in the end you kind of thought about how everyone would perceive the way you passed through.

The other piece I really enjoyed was the man being suspended in the air in front of the white panel. The man that was up in the air was really beautiful, he had long black hair and beautiful skin tone. I don’t know what attracted me to this piece so much I think it was because of the calmness when you entered the room and the lighting. Even though it looked painful for the man to be stuck up on the wall the beauty of it was so overwhelming. The shadows he created with his body and the way the light hit the wall there was just something so peaceful about the whole thing and when I was viewing it I just remember getting caught up and realizing my friends had left me because I was watching it for so long. I also really enjoyed where Abramovic herself was there staring at people. I liked how people crowded around the square waiting for something to happen or waiting to take a turn to sit with her. It was like watching a fight or people dancing when everyone crowds around and gives them space in the middle.

The problem with this is that it was the first time that I saw performance art that I really took it in and appreciated it. I was so excited and taken back by all that was going on that I kind of overlooked anything she did with new media or video. What I do remember and that I liked a lot was the video of all of the people humping the ground. I liked how in her videos and in her performance work she used people and the interaction with people. I do think by far she is the best performance artist I have ever seen. I love the way she uses the audience in her pieces and makes you question yourself. I loved it, thats all I can really say, it was amazing.

Museum Visits: Whitney Biennial 2010

Kerry Tribe

2009 Double projection of a single 16mm film, color, sound, 18:30 min, Dimension Variable; Los Angeles

“H.M.,” a patient who underwent experimental surgery in the 1950s as a cure for epilepsy. After the treatment, which involved the removal of part of his brain, H.M. suffered from severe amnesia, with his short-term memory restricted to events of the prior twenty seconds.

I had never been to the Whitney before so when I knew we were going there I was excited because it was something new for me. I don’t know much about new media artists and this class at times is really hard for me because I’m not sure I grasp the concept fully always.. Going into the museum I was not sure what to expect or what I was really looking for so I just went in with an open mind and knew that what I was going to write about on this blog would just grab my attention and pick me.

I really like a lot of the new media pieces that I saw, one that stood out in particular was the piece where the two young boys were on the floor in what seemed to be one of their bedrooms and they were playing the bass and guitar pedals. Even though at a point the sound was so high it became unbearable to stand in the room and listen to it, I did find it interesting in making music using those pedals. I also liked that it was two young kids playing the pedals because it reminded me of the days when I was in high school and we would go see the local bands play and how into the “punk scene” I was.

One piece that really stood out to me was the piece by Kelly Tribe, not sure of the title, but it was a video where a woman was interviewing a old man who had I think been losing his memory. I remember the thing that first caught my attention was the projectors that she used to project the film. They seemed very old looking and almost vintage and that was intriguing to me. Then I saw the old man and just hearing the voices of the two people drew me in. I walked in and actual sat down and watched the video for some time. This was the first time that I didn’t just pass through, I actually stopped and stayed to watch this. As the old man talked it was almost heartbreaking because you could tell in his face that he was very confused at times and as he talked he would kind of forget where he was or what he was saying.

The interesting thing was that Tribe used two screens that projected two different scenes or it would project the old man and the other would have the woman talking. I found that to be very interesting because in the room it was just the two screens nothing else and I feel that the use of the two screens really pulled the viewer in to not only pay attention to the man but the other things going on in the other screen. The part of the video that really stuck out to me was where the woman said that even though the old man was losing his memory he was really good at doing crossword puzzles and when she asked the old man about how good he was at doing crossword puzzles you saw the confusion leave his face and his eyes brighten up with joy like he was proud that even though he forgot things he could do a crossword puzzle with no problem. That part really pulled me in and touched me. It was like even with all the bad that happens to a person and with all the sadness there still is that glimpse of hope or still that joy in waking up every day.

I really enjoyed the Whitney Biennial, it was definitely different then anything I have ever seen before. After we left the Whitney we went to eat and then stopped two other museums before visiting the MOMA.