Marina Abromovic at MOMA-attention whore?

Marina Abromovic is a performance artist. This month at the MOMA, her retrospective show, Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present, opened. it runs through May 31st 2010. Abromovic is no stranger to controversy. It can be said that she thrives on the inflammatory and experimental performance that she creates.
In this retrospective, several performance pieces by Abramović will be re-performed as well as one new piece. The new piece is a 700 hour performance by Abramović, in which she sits in a chair with cushions. Across from her is a table and another chair, this one without cushions. The artist does not talk. Museum goers are invited to sit down across from Abramović. Essentially, museum goers are privileged enough to engage in a staring contest with Abramović. Though no one talks, it seems there may be some form of communication, as if Marina was a painting herself. You can watch a live feed from the MOMA here.
It is unclear what viewers are inclined to feel. However, it is almost without a doubt that Abramović evokes visceral reactions from her viewers. This article explores some of those feelings. To me, Abramović's willingness to sit in the gallery is making a commentary on the way a viewer communicates with a piece of art. We see the art, but we never see the artist. I think that she is breaking down the barrier between art and the artist in allowing us to see her. However, because Marina does not talk, it takes away from this theory. I would hope Marina Abramović is speaking to this relationship, but I do not know if this is the correct interpretation. This review questions the re-performance of performance art. Which, I think is a legitimate question, because performance art at its core is ephemeral, so does it make sense to re-perform?

LEGO as Art Form

Post for Monday 3/28/10

This weekend, as the weather took a dramatic turn for the worse, it seems fitting to turn to brightly colored plastic art to feel better. In a city with so many galleries and museums, it is sometimes hard to visit the fun ones. I have been to the Museum of Sex, and many Chelsea galleries. However, sometimes a directive in the way of choosing a gallery is nice.

Take a cue from Time Out New York, and their weekend guide, visit the Agora Gallery. The gallery is located five blocks away from my dorm and I intend to visit as soon as I have the time to trip outside into the cold. Right now, the gallery is featuring LEGO art. The show will run from March 23-April 13 2010. The use of LEGO pieces in this context is decidedly more grown up than the things I used to construct.

Artist Nathan Sawaya's show just opened and it is surprisingly refreshing. Although a bit fantastical, I think the LEGO art is a fun escape, especially from the rain. My boyfriend, a LEGO snob, did not care for the art. I think it is quite fun. As Sawaya himself said, “I am seeing children and families who have never stepped into an art gallery in their lives being drawn in because of my work.” The artists work has caught the attention of CNN back in 2007 when he first became known. In this article he gives a voice to his skill. The show, which runs through April 13th is worth a visit.

Eye Spy

My mother is moving. Which means, she is leaving the house that we have lived in for 20 years. This leaves my sister and me to do the dirty work of purging 20 years of collective pack-ratism from our new lives.

My father and mother moved into our house in the suburbs of Buffalo in 1989, shortly before having me. My father sold his boat, and my mother planted flowers in our new yard. The house was shortly filled with plastic and Barbie Jeeps and all sorts of baby oddities. Then came my real collector years, in which I would raid antique stores for bottles, trinkets, ge-gaws, and anything with a tassel. I also love socks, vintage clothes, and my collection of Vogue magazines dating back to around the year 2000. Combine these obsessions with a 20 year period of living in the same room that was never fully cleaned, and problems are created.

My father moved out back in the 2004 period of time, taking his button downs and some tools with him. My mother moved her clothes into his closet, successfully occupying 3 closets. She describes these closets with purpose, explaining that she has her work clothes, her play clothes, and her gig clothes. My father has since bought a condo in the city center building, and has procured a walk in closet. My sister and I have space, but it doesn't include any plastic from our past. Strictly teenage. The condo is adult. Our house was for kids.

Packing up 20 years of my life in one week was at the least...interesting. At the most cathartic, and at its worst sad. Our knew house is a statuesque Victorian, built in 1868, it boasts 12 foot tall ceilings and a killer history. I divided things up into categories, Art/Writing, Memories, Memorabilia 1 and 2, and Knick Knacks (which included such things as vintage cigar boxes and broke 35mm cameras i can not give away).

The week went slow, with over 100 magazines to sort through, and daunting amounts of papers to place in boxes, I woke up late most mornings. I would get to work on the fun stuff, leaving the more serious piles of garbage to the end. Mostly, I got caught up in trying to savor the last few days alone in my room, instead of making it easy for myself to move into my new room. Toward the end of the week, things got more serious and a bit frantic. I shoved masses of magazines in garbage bags, wanting to get to my personal files.

Last night, my friend Erin came over for our traditional farewell meal of lasagna and chocolate cake. After dinner, she followed me up to my room. She is pragmatic and exacting. We moved the finished boxes to one side and set to work on the childhood years. We sorted the pictures, math tests, and drawers full of rock collections. Then came the things my crafty Nana (grandmother) has made me. Things I cannot throw out because I know someday she will die. She knows I cannot throw these things out, that is why she dispenses them so freely. The cloth covered boxes stay, the wall paper covered coffee can she claim works well as a garbage can, goes. Lastly, we sorted the art supplies. She let me keep pieces of twisted metal and rust for future projects. Also, I saved a while box of vintage glasses from being dumped. Erin doesn't know.

This morning, as I was in the process of being late for my bus, I took post it notes and left my mother post-its of what to do next. On a few piles I wrote "Use your Judgment". I will never see these piles of things again. It's ok.

Jewels: A Spectacular Ballet

Blog post for Monday 3/5/10


Last Saturday, my roommate and I got dressed up and headed to the Lincoln Center. We were going to see the New York City Ballet performance of Jewels. We sat in the fourth ring, as our tickets were only 20$, but even from up high in the fourth ring, the ballet was sensational, leaving us both with chills. The fourth ring allowed us a kind of cozy feeling, as we sat back and watched the curtains open on first the emerald, then the ruby, and lastly the diamond performance.
Jewels, a renowned ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, who was the co-founder of the New York City Ballet. Jewels is a three act, plot less ballet. The main concept of this ballet revolves around three different jewels: Emeralds, Rubies, and Diamonds. Each act has its own unique feeling and uses different composer's music to portray the different moods. The ballet portrays the three different feelings masterfully.
Each feeling reflects the way in which Balanchine felt about the stones he chose to use. The Diamond act, which is, in my opinion the most beautiful, shines in its clarity and technique. The ballerinas are beautiful and nimble, using their bodies to suit the music and feeling of the act. The emeralds, which start off the Jewels performance, are clean, pure, and innocent. The dance gets the audience ready for the ruby performance. Which is overall the most dramatic and moody feeling piece. The ruby piece, though the diamonds were the most clean and concise, were the best, I think, at portraying the overall feeling and meaning of Balanchine's intent.


Here is a video of San Francisco's Ballet performance of Jewels.

The International Center of Photography: Surrealism at its Best

Blog for Monday 3/5/10



Recently, my roommates and I tripped out of our Chelsea apartment, and down the street to the International Center of Photography. The Center is located on 43rd st. The exhibit we were going to see is called, Twilight Visions: Surrealism, Photography, and Paris. We were rushed for time, but we were still very much interested in seeing the Twilight Visions photography exhibit. The exhibit was quite intriguing, Theresa Lichtensten guest curated the event and drew from several different surrealist photographers of the 20's and 30's. The exhibition focuses on photography in Paris, at the time of Twilight. As the wall text states, twilight visions focuses on the dreamlike quality twilight brings to the photographs. The photographs highlight the new avant garde style that was emerging at that time. The relevance of the exhibition to Paris and the 20's and 30's speaks for itself as you walk through the several photographs, films, and books. The overall feeling of the exhibit is characterized by a feeling of newness and magic. The historical context of this exhibit places us in the aftermath of World War I. The multiple angles used and the different techniques used to capture images echoes the movements in Paris after the war. I thought the exhibition was successful in its examination of a specific time period and genre. The exhibition will be up through May 9, 2010. Though this exhibition will not offer any new or modern forms of art, its look back into history, with a fresh focus on Twilight Vision does the photographs of Paris and its subject matter justice. As you look at the photographs through the lens of Twilight Surrealism, and the War, you can feel the magic that these still frames embody.