I found the reading by Roselee Goldberg to be pretty interesting. I am not very familiar with performance art and therefore, it was very informative. I found it interesting that she said many of the constructivists, dadaists, and surrealists tested their ideas in performance art before turning them into traditional mediums of art. I also thought it was interesting how she states that the history of performance art is complicated because it is ephemeral. In the documentary, Marina Abromovic The Artist is present, they also touched on this issue. One of Marina’s assistants or curators stated that with every performance she did they took one photograph to represent that piece and then they would sell the photographs.
I thought this documentary was very interesting. Unlike the reading, that talked about the origins of performance art and the history of performance in other art movements, this documentary focused on one artist who is seen as a leading figure in modern performance art. Marina is obviously very passionate about performance art and even said in the beginning she hates art studios with a passion and lives for that connection with her audience. I liked when she said that performance art has never been considered a real art form and that she wants it to be respected before she dies. After her exhibit at the museum of modern art, I think she can be assured that people will respect performance art as a real art form. I was amazed how many people were willing to stand in line all day, some people for days just in order to sit across from her and look into her eyes for a brief moment. She is clearly very dedicated to her work because she sat in the same chair for months, without moving, and staring at all of the spectators who wished to sit across from her. I thought it was crazy how her ex-boyfriend talked about doing the same thing early on in their careers while also fasting. Eventually, this was detrimental to his health and he had to stop. At her show at MoMA, Marina would not even listen to her assistant when he suggested that she could cut the exhibit short after she was feeling chronic pain. I get antsy after sitting in a classroom chair for an hour so I can’t even imagine the discipline she has in order to do this for hours on end, months in a row. It’s Crazy!
