Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present

Marina Abramović isn't generally a name that rolls off your tongue when listing your favorite artists, but after viewing "The Artist Is Present", she may as well be the very first person that comes to mind. When classifying "artists", most point in the direction of Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Roy Lichtenstein — we forget about performance artists, as most of us aren't pretentious enough to consider ourselves a part of the "art" world. Save for Portland hipsters and eclectic New Yorkers, most don't know who the hell Marina Abramović is or why she is so damn interesting. I had never heard of her until a few days ago, when she made national headlines accusing Jay-Z of failing to donate to the Marina Abramović foundation after co-starring in his "Picasso Baby" music video.

"The Artist Is Present" is a fascinating watch for both newcomers and Abramović admirers, giving us an inside look into the process of her 2010 exhibit of the same name while providing a background, or, an introduction, if you will, to her performing art past. Touching on her controversial "Rhythm" series of the 1970s and her artistic and personal relationship with Ulay, the documentary is as educational as it is emotionally satisfying. We can appreciate Abramović's contributions to our culture just as much as we can connect with her as a vulnerable human being doing what they love.

Abramović has made a career out of using her body as means of artistic expression, testing her physical and intellectual limits on a regular basis. She has run into walls (for hours), cut, whipped and mentally disabled herself, exposed her naked body to the world — and yet, these are only a few characteristics of her long career (and vaguely detailed I might add). Abramović's willingness to submit to inescapable pain for the sake of performing is startling. One might initially cast aside her experiments, considering them to be laughable, strange, perhaps even an excuse to commit self-harm. The documentary, though, adds a dimension unseen by most, making her projects all the more admirable.

"The Artist Is Present" has a plentiful number of interviews to add to our reverence, and goes just deep enough into Abramović's past to give us a sort of idea as to why she does what she does. But the most enjoyable aspects of the documentary are not the clinical studies nor the final act, which focuses on the bewildering exhibit. Most gratifying is seeing Abramović behind the scenes, living as a normal woman, with a sense of humor, to boot, who just so happens to have a job most would never dream of. This is a hugely pleasurable documentary, yet I want more. I want to delve into Abramović's unhappy childhood with more gusto, to get an even closer look into the mind-blowing years spent with Ulay. For now, though, this will have to do, and that isn't a bad thing.

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 absolutely loathe performance art and the pretentiousness that comes with it. If fact, aside from movies and some abstract pieces, I am not all that interested in art. However, it is impossible not to like this film. Abramovic is hypnotic throughout and the film editors do a great job of cutting out virtually all of the annoyances that sometimes plague these types documentaries. I am a simple-minded person who enjoys beer, boxing and cars. I do not know my wines nor am I an avid NY Times reader. But, one thing I am sure of is that you will love this film. Just give it 15 minutes and you will be hooked.

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...

A 2012 documentary about the 2010 retrospective exhibition "THE ARTIST IS PRESENT" held at MoMA, New York, by the Serbia-born Marina Abramovic, the performance-art spearhead, has been active for over 40 years, she is the "grandmother of performance art".

For the new generation, Marina probably is well-known for her recent collaboration with Lady Gaga in her trendy ARTPOP album, so one may reckon this documentary could be an introductory piece to her wholesome work and artistic ethic, however, as the title implies, the film doesn't purport to be a comprehensive presentation of her lengthy career, instead, it mainly stays in the "present", extensively records her latest performance inside MoMA (with a group of young artists re-enact her most important work at the same time), where Marina dares to sit and stare with her audience face to face but in silence for many hours a day continuously for 3 months. It was a great success in any rate, but also accurately testifies how smart Marina is, as an astute artist, she knows what her art needs is the gaze and attention from audience, and it is so different from other media, performance art is an ongoing process, so she utilizes her towering stamina to grant each audience the possibility to be in the center of a crowd, to participate in her work and to ruminate in a trance of emotional undercurrents. In a three-months span, the film covers the sensational public images and the more laid-back private moments in Marina's life, through cautious eyes, one might find she is always performing, it is her lifestyle, her habitual mechanism towards the world at least whenever the camera aims at her, she minimally elucidates her beliefs and through ages, her radical angle has abated, what is left is the mystical allure of her presence, as she is sitting silently in front of you and gazing into your eyes but indeed, in most case, you don't mean a thing to her.

The most curious and emotionally relatable part is in the first half of the film, when we briefly get a chance to know about her background, especially her works with German artist Ulay, who she met in 1976, afterward they spent 12 years together as a collective being until they historically ended their relationship in 1988 after a spiritual journey in the Great Wall of China. Like Marina said in a speech, an artist should not fall in love with another artist, it does come from her own experiences, that's why their reunion is much more meaningful and intriguing in this sense. Ulay is also quite frank about this relationship, and gives Marina his blessing for her achievements, still through his interview, there are much more mixed emotions are engendered and mixed, but the truth only exists between those who are involved, no matter how curious we are, it is never what this film intends to demonstrate.

Directed by Matthew Akers, with snappy editing work and soothing score from Nathan Halpern, the film is a joyful ride for those who are really into art scenes and all the fanfares tailing along, occasionally thought-provoking, but essentially it is a bandwagon for Marina's artwork and reputation, if you want to know more about the person herself, you will find this film wanting and not spunky enough to soberly take stock of its subject matter.