The Artist is Present

When first told about Marina Abramović’s performance The Artist is Present, to be honest I really didn’t think much of it. So she sits in front of someone for a while, is being present really that hard? It wasn’t till experiencing just a slice of this performance I realised I was completely wrong.

Not really knowing the person I was sat opposite to, at first I felt rather embarrassed and exposed. But after a while as I noticed our breathing become in time, I began to feel a special intimacy with the girl sat opposite me. In a way, it’s not something I can describe. There was just something special about us both being ‘present’ in the moment together. Unfortunately, this happened for only a few moments throughout the hour or so we sat across from each other, as staying ‘present’ in the moment proven to be more difficult than I initially thought.

Constantly my mind would wander off, thinking about my next seminar or did I lock the door when I left my flat, consequently my focus would go and those moments were lost. I couldn’t believe Marina did this for eight hours a day and didn’t lose focus.

What I admired most about Marina’s piece was the bond that was created between two people, which was essentially an oxymoron. The moment seemed to contain so much meaning yet at the same time didn’t, as it wasn’t going to go any further and when the person left Marina they were again just strangers. This idea interested me a lot and it made me ask the question:

Can you create a meaningful encounter with a complete stranger?

This question is something I would really like to explore throughout this module.

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