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randall 
"I like to watch."
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 Posted - 09/19/2012 : 21:01:09
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This movie actually instructed me about something I'd already seen.
A friend and I went to an early opening of the Museum of Modern Art in New York to see an exhibition of Tim Burton's work. [It was wonderful!] By the time we left, the doors had opened to the general public, and they were pouring in to the film title's exhibition. Naked bodies and all. We saw everything. But as we headed down, a massive ring of people surrounded two humans on chairs, staring at each other. The audience was rapt.
We weren't so close that we were emotionally involved, but this movie shows you why we should have been. It humanizes the sometimes idiotic-seeming "performance art" of Marina Abramovic by taking you inside the artist's backstage world. The opening scenes depict tears falling in the eyes of participants, each sitting to meet Abramovic's silent gaze for as long as they cared. You might even be skeptical [I sure was] to the point of laughter [not so for me]. But an hour later, you understand the context, and you can actually be persuaded that this is *art*. To a skeptic like me, that's a brilliant achievement. |
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Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
