Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

In traditional instances, an artist is present in their name plaque next to their work. Marina Abramovic is integrated into her work so that human presence and art are inseparable. Using minimalist aesthetic, Abramovic establishes a poetic discourse about the pain of existing merely through the body. In the second floor space Abramovic invited spectators to silently sit across from her for as long as they can stand sitting. The intensity of this work is provided by multiple layers of psychology. First, the artist´s ´presence´ as indicated by the title of the show. Second, the invitation to engage with the artist at an intimate table amongst the voyeuristic audience. Abramovic wears a traditional and modest draping blue dress setting her apart from the overtly american fashions of the audience as she stares at them as if they were in an intense conversation.

The upstairs galleries were equally as compelling as the first. The first nude performer that I saw was displayed on a wall high above the spectators. She was still but occasionally blinked reminding you that she too breathes. It made me think about female representation through the age; as an object of the male gaze. Not only was the female present in this work, but she stares back. She is just like you, sweating, breathing and blinking. I gazed at her and felt impolite. It would be interesting to see how audiences around the world respond to these nude figures. Usually I don´t fear nudity, but put up to Abramovics nudes I was unsure about how to interact with them. Walking through the nudes in the doorway I found myself rushing through and squeezing my shoulders into my body as not to rub up against them.

Abramovic´s use of Memento Mori throughout her work was intriguing. The videos of a skeleton being compulsively scrubbed clean references the mechanized work ethic of the living next to a reminder of imminent death. Also, the nude with a skeleton lying on top of her was a beautiful juxtaposition. As she breathed the skeleton gently moved.
Using simplistic means Abramovic complexly layers meaning into a show that I will never forget.