Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present

I remember when there were people going to MOMA in droves to sit across from some artist I'd never heard of. I heard people say it was a very moving experience. It sounded nuts to me. So I was curious to see if I could get a sense of what it was all about from this movie.

I suppose I did, a little bit. The movie is made by people who want to be a bit artsy about it all, with jump shots and some shaky camera-work, but it does give you the basics. Marina is a long-time performance artist who specializes in feats of endurance, like running repeatedly into a wall or sitting naked on a bicycle seat for hours. She is very sincere, very determined, and seems to be someone who lives her art. There are scenes of her with her ex-partner/lover in which she is driving and cooking dinner which give you a glimpse into the mundane aspects of life that even those living for their art experience.

Most of the second half of the movie is devoted to her three months sitting staring at people who stare back. You see how physically grueling the experience is, you see how moved many people are, and you say how insane things got, with people camping out all night, desperate to get in early enough to spend some time having a famous artist stare at them.

The movie doesn't really recreate the experience. It's rather glossy at times, with a soundtrack that I'm sure creates a different experience than what I assume was simply the buzz of the crowd and the noise from any video projections nearby.

I'm amazed that some people here said they were moved by this movie. It's an interesting view of a performance artist, offering occasional mild insights from her friends and giving some understanding of her approach.

I'm also surprised that some people expected more of this movie, like a complete investigation of her career, or questions into how performance art fits into the art world. The movie is called The Artist is Present, and it's focused on that show, and that piece, and it's by someone who clearly buys into performance artist (I've always thought this sort of thing was interesting but kooky). It's exactly the sort of documentary I would expect someone who is intrigued by Marina would be inclined to make.

The movie absolutely did not make me wish I'd gone up to MOMA to stare at her, although it makes me feel, just a little, that maybe I should have gone up to see the recreations of her previous pieces and take a quick peek at her face-offs. But it's not something I'm losing sleep over.

I can't even find words to describe the emotion, the feeling of peace, serenity, harmony that we feel as watching this beautiful documentary. It simply shows us the essence, the genuineness and purity of this fabulous artist! GREAT WOMAN, no doubt! I wish I was one of those that had the opportunity to sit in front of her! This is art, and anyone can't say that it's not! Certainly you'll never find someone so much present, so much human, so much given to the feelings of others, such as Marina! And that's for sure!!! Thank you, thank you so so much! You're simply UNIQUE! I truly wish to know her better now!!! And her institute, oh the institute!!!! Maybe one day, one day, who knows? :)

Fascinating, unexpectedly deeply moving portrait of Marina Abromovic, who is sometimes called 'the grandmother of performance art" and her hugely successful retrospective at New York's Museum of Modern Art'.

While her past history is never less then tremendously engrossing, the most powerful moments of the film are those showing her new work, unveiled for the retrospective called 'The Artist is Present'. For 3 months, Ms. Abromovic simply sat in a chair all day, taking no breaks, looking into the eyes of any museum guest who sat down opposite her. No talk, and very little movement.

Yet these encounters are tremendously powerful, often moving both participants to tears (and some of us watching the film as well). This is 'art' taken to it's most simple, naked level. Connection between two strangers, each coming away different for the encounter.

While all this may sound dry and theoretic, the pure honest emotion and presence the 63 year old artist brings to her Herculean task make watching the film anything but.

This is a documentary about how long it took for Marina Abramovic to get famous. It's a long view of a life lived in art and for art and then suddenly, late in life, to discover that all those years spent in obscurity are finally paying off. That's interesting. But that's all the documentary is about. Why is her art worthy? What has been the arc of her life's work? How has it evolved? I might as well have watched a film about Kim Kardashian and the nature of fame. This is more an adulation of fame itself than an analysis of the power of art. Very disappointing. The frame for the film is the build up to her most famous work, The Artist is Present, at MOMA, where, individually, members of the public were allowed to sit in a chair opposite Ms. Abramovic and stare into her face. The impact of this experience seems to have been profound. Ms. Abramovic's face is magnificent, filled with pain, deep silence and supreme mystery. She did this every day for three months. The sheer fortitude that this must have taken is astounding. The amount of raw emotion that she must have absorbed is exhausting just to think about. To have heard her speak on camera about this experience would have been fascinating. But instead we get a facile look at the least interesting aspect of her life; the fact that she is now famous. I'm glad for her but it's a small, mundane detail of a life lived with far more complexity than this documentary affords her.

I just saw this film at the San Francisco International Film Festival. I thought it was excellent. I had heard about Marina's work, read a few articles and seen a few photos, but this film put it all together and gave me the context that I never had before.

It documents a 3 month retrospective of her work that was at the New York MOMA and not only shows details of what it was like to live through those three months, with recreations of many of her historical performances and Marina sitting in front of audience members all day every day, but also shows the back story regarding the work involved in putting something like that together, as well as details about her personal life that are fascinating. Collaborations and interviews with former husband Ulay are particularly poignant. The reactions of some of the audience members at the museum are also quite strange and compelling. I especially liked the children who sat with Marina at the museum and have a feeling that the experience will stay with some of them for a lifetime...

This film made me want to seek out more of Marina's work...