Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

2012 "The hardest thing is to do something which is close to nothing."
7.8| 1h46m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 13 June 2012 Released
Producted By: AVRO Television
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
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Performance artist Marina Abramovic prepares for a major retrospective of her work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Genre

Documentary

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Director

Matthew Akers

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AVRO Television

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Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present Audience Reviews

Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.
Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.
Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Blake Peterson 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.
lorriebeauchamp I don't pretend to know the inner realm of performance art; each creative genre has its own secret system of valuation. What struck me most about Marina as an artist in general, though, is her ability to rise above everything and dedicate herself to the truth as she sees it. It is incredibly difficult to sit and look directly into someone's eyes, whether a stranger or your most intimate partner. Most of us go days without doing this; try it yourself and see (pun intended). There was no doubt a significant exchange of oxytocin (a feel-good hormone) between her and the hundreds of thousands of people who sat across from her and partook in the social experiment (in fact, it seemed to me to be more of a social experiment than performance art, but again, that's just labels). I don't think anyone would argue that there was a lot of mental energy being exchanged, and as we learn more about the brain through ongoing studies, I'm sure we'll realize that this artist is tapping into a futuristic version of ourselves communicating by energy and emotions only. It also seemed very "zen" to me, and I noticed that at least one of her visitors was a Buddhist. In essence, she was performing a form of sitting meditation, and the three-day retreat that she insisted on for her fellow performance artists was very close to the spiritual practises of eastern philosophy. I found the documentary very moving, startlingly refreshing, and a wonderful profile of a courageous, dedicated artist who is a true soul- seeker. The only critical comment I have is that I thought the other artists - the ones who valiantly took on her past tasks and who spent an equal number of hours being "tortured" into stillness - did not get much acclaim at the conclusion of the documentary. Bravo to all of them!In conclusion, a documentary well worth watching, a woman worthy of our admiration, and an art perhaps emergent in its influences over society.
anz10 I have heard of Marina Abramovic but didn't know much about her and was scared it would all be a bit pretentious or she wouldn't be any good or to my taste, (even though I like modern art, but not all of it of course) but I found her truly inspiring, not only that but she is truly down to earth and real, she truly believes in her work and went to great lengths for her art and still does, her life story is telling of this and very engrossing. The exercises she puts the young people through whom she entrusts with reproducing her work for her exhibition, also shows just how much she digs into her own being to give back to others in her art and to her students. I guess I was scared performance art wouldn't live up to what I expected it to be. Whether or not you appreciate her art is not really the point to me, although many people do, it's more important that it comes from a genuine place and that to me makes is true expression, you cannot argue with that. The most touching part of the documentary for me however, was definitely her piece for the exhibition. Marina sat in a chair (initially with a table in between her and the person) in silence for three months, only looking up when a member of the public sat in a chair opposite her. This is no easy feat if you consider we can't even be still for 5mins without back pain or needing to check our iPhones. The intensity and genuine affection/serenity/love and calm she gives each and every individual is deeply moving. She gives each person the attention they deserve, it moved me to tears several times, as it did some of the people sitting opposite her. It made me question just how much we truly "see" each others, or even whether we even really try often enough, how much do we truly care about someones true self and feelings, how many times do we get that attention from someone else, how many lonely people there are in the world. It also made me consider what true connection, love and acceptance can do for the human soul and for the serenity of the world in general and that we are all seeking love. The power of Buddhism and it's principles really do come to light in her work in a very real way. It's made me want to be more accepting of others and myself, it's also made me realise just how deep the need for connection truly goes. Her observation that she becomes someone's mirror and that she can feel people's pain and feelings in a gaze, was telling. I now understand even more deeply how important my need for connection truly is and how it affects me emotionally. Connecting to yourself, others and your "art" or whatever makes you happy is more important than ever in this super busy hyper world, be still and re-focus :)
athenamuses-308-200437 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.