Marina Abramović’s exhibit “The Artist is Present” at the MOMA is a clear and resounding statement for performance art, and the pieces/performances on display are shocking, disturbing, and will leave you with an understanding of the power and the possibilities of performance.
With written descriptions, videos, and images of performances, such as Rhythm 10, Rest Energy, Expanding Space, and AAA-AAA and live performers reenacting peices such as Imponderabilia, the number and volume of work (totaling over 50) is almost too much, leaving the audience in a state of wandering awe or stumbling grins.
In the main atrium, Abramović is performing in the exhibition with a 3 month long solo piece which includes audience participation.
The MOMA provided a number of interviews with Abramović online (link), and below are two different interviews discussing “The Body as Medium” and “Documenting Performance”:
A statement that stood out for me from the interviews was Marina’s comment about how some artists only left “documentation and not any kind of solution, how this actually can be turned into some kind of life process”. The work on display here is not just documentation but represents a visceral mastery of performer/audience experience and human interaction.
Abramović said that her hope was that before she dies, she leaves a good idea. I would say that she has left many.