Marina Abramovic ‘The Artist is Present’. The documentary based about Marina’s performance piece in MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) in New York. This feature length film shows how Marina pushes her body to the extremes, in both past performances and The Artist is Present, which is her exhibition in MoMA, which lasts for three months. The film follows Mariana and how she prepares for her most demanding performance to date.

“She will sit at a table in the museum’s atrium, in what she describes as a “square of light.” Members of the audience will be invited to join her, one at a time, at the opposite end of the table. There will be no talking, no touching, no overt communication of any kind.” (Marina Film, 2012.)

I feel the work of Marina Abramovic has inspired me greatly and gave me inspiration in what I can achieve and the limits I can push myself through during the Site Specific module and performance. A favoured quote from the Marina documentary is “The hardest is to do something which is close to nothing.” (The Artist Is Present, 2012) I feel that I let my confusion of integrating theatre and art be the driving point for the first few weeks, however this feature film has taught me that a beautiful performative piece can be created by doing the most simplest of tasks. I’m not saying for one moment that what Marina put herself though was ‘simple’, the effect on her body and mind was apparent; holding a connection with three quarters of a million people would have been emotionally draining for her. Marina wanted to create a shared experience with the audience and performer, she did this by inviting them to join her and be a part of the piece, in the centre of the museum.

The difference between acting and performing was put beautifully “when you perform it’s a knife and your blood, when you’re acting its ketchup.” (The Artist is Present, 2012) It’s not about taking on a role and performing a story, it’s about you yourself becoming the performer, and being said story.

You can view the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcmcEZxdlv4

References:

The Artist is Present – Marina Abramovic (2012)

Marinafilm.com (2012)

Images: Marinafilm.com