Tag: Jeff dupre

directed by Matthew Akers & Jeff Dupre

736 hours and 30 minutes without any word, without any movement, no food and drink, no toilet breaks. That’s what it took to create one of the most spectacular performances I’ve heard of. Marina Abramović is a famous artist of Serbian origin. Her life has been full of numerous adventures, unusual acquaintances, but mostly – crossing the line way too much. If you think something is impossible, Marina has probably already done it. When I first heard of her, it was at university and we were discussing her performances. At the beginning, I thought “who’s so crazy to risk their own life for some performance?”, and then I realised that even if I may not understand some of her drastic choices, I admire her bravery and strength as a woman, as a human, as an artist. I’ve read her autobiography and I know it’s not a book blog, but if you find some time – please read this one. Reading about her life was much more exciting than reading most fictional books, I swear. Anyway, today I’d like to recommend you a film about Marina’s important event. You will find out a bit about her life, but only a small fragment. Generally, we move to The Museum of Modern Art in New York where in 2010 Marina organised a big event presenting her most iconic pieces of art, which were re-enacted by other performers. All the presented performances had to be with the performer present in the piece, not just a bunch of objects to observe, so that’s why the whole event is called “The Artist is Present”. During the exhibition, Marina was about to perform herself – and that one was a huge challenge. She decided to put two chairs facing each other, sit on one of them and let people just sit on the other. The rules were simple: you just sit, not say a word, and look into each other’s eyes. As long as you need. At first, the organising team were worried that perhaps nobody would want to sit in front of Marina, but it turned out to be the opposite. People were queuing for hours to take part in the performance, some of them even several times. Marina spent many hours on just being present for her audience, which I personally find amazing. To me, she paid respect to people who admire her work, because each person could be there with her, one to one for at least a moment. As she was saying, she fully focused on the other person, she wasn’t noticing anyone around them, so she was truly there for that one on the second chair. I cannot even imagine what kind of emotions she was feeling during the performance, because even watching parts of it was fascinating. One of the big moments was when her ex partner, Ulay, sat on the other chair. They were a couple of artists performing together for many years, but finally decided to go separate ways. When Marina saw Ulay on the second chair, she started crying and broke the rules – she reached out with her hands to touch his. Did I cry at that moment? Maybe. Generally, I’m moved by what Marina has done as an artist in her life, so if you want to learn about someone truly special, make sure to see this documentary. And if you get inspired, then the book is waiting as well.

My rating: 8/10
S.