Marina Abramovic”The Artist is Present” Questions
What are some of your first impressions of Marina Abramovic’s performance works, based on the documentary? Use an image/example of one or two works to describe aspects you admire, and aspects you might agree are problematic?
My first impressions of Marina Abramovic’s work before the documentary were that it wasn’t interesting to me that much as I heard of her work, but it just didn’t speak to me as other artworks have. However after watching the documentary and seeing the performance’s amount of work before and after these shows I am in awe of how very intricate the preparation is that is needed to put on her performances and the self discipline it takes to even stay the trail with these performances. An example I can pull from the film is at (8:21) (Akers, 2012) (Shown in image one). This shows such a great insight into the preparation for her upcoming show as it is a full mock up of the exhibition floor to floor with little pictures to represent her works she will be showing. Also throughout the film we see Marina visiting the exhibition before the show multiple times to make changes to suit her vision which just seems like tremendous work especially when you also have to prepare for a physical performance. On the point of self discipline the performance “The artist is present” (shown below in image two) (1:16:56) is a good testament to the incredible stress she is putting her body through during this performance as during that time stamp she is visibly tired as she drops into a lean onto the elevator wall and complains about pain a little later in that timestamp. Even just the thought of having to sit in that chair everyday for a couple months makes me tired. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like to have to perform like that everyday. Truly Marina plays both roles of director and actor and that amount of dedication to craft I can truly admire.
(Akers, 2012) Image (1)(8:21)
(Akers, 2012) Image (2)(1:16:56)
What have you learned about features of performance art based on Abramovic’s work? Name a few key features according to her precedents. Include an image to illustrate. Consider her quote, “When you perform it is a knife and your blood, when you act it is a fake knife and ketchup.”
Key features of her performance art based work I would say is for one her usage of her own body as a vessel for meaning. An example in her work shown in the film is “Rhythm 0” 1974 ( 0:12:18) (Akers, 2012) she allowed people to use objects against her body which showcased on some level human nature, and what people were capable of without restriction of law (Shown in image three). Even Clause states “it’s like the Stanford prison experiment” (Akers, 2012). Another key feature of her performances are the viewers themselves as it was even stated during the film at (0:11:58) (Akers, 2012). The viewer’s experience/ reaction to her work is the work itself in some type of meta way. The viewer’s own interaction with the work gives the piece life as it showcases our life, our decisions, morals or reactions which in a way is the work itself. Marina may be performing as an art performer but in a way the viewer is performing with her. A good example of her work affecting the audience is at (1:11:54) (Akers, 2012) (Shown in Image four). During this time Marina is doing her piece “The artist is present” and during the move it affects multiple people bringing some to tears. The image below shows it affecting a man so much he begins to cry something that is sometimes not even considered socially acceptable by a man. So her work was so powerful it appealed directly to his emotions creating the reaction that the performance hoped to provoke in people. Lastly I would say a key feature of her work would be the suppressing of human limitations in some sense. For example at (0:45:43) (Akers, 2012) (See image five) Night Sea Crossing 1981 – 1987 Marina and Ulay suppressed human limitations of hunger, the need to move, and silence for 90 days something that takes incredible resilience and dedication to complete because it goes against all your humanly functions. We can see this in many of her performances but I highlighted this one in particular because of how hard it must have been to sit completely still with no food and complete silence. Humans naturally hate boredom, our brain detests it so much it rather cause pain to ourselves then be bored (This has been shown in research papers). So to overcome something like that for 90 days is truly a feat.
(Akers, 2012) Image (3)( 0:12:18)
(Akers, 2012) Image (4)(1:11:54)
(Akers, 2012) Image (5)(0:45:43)
References
Akers, M. (Director). (2012). Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present [Video file]. Films We Like. Retrieved September 12, 2025, from Kanopy.
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