In April 2010, I was fortunate enough to participate in Marina Abramovic's performance art piece "The Artist in Present." Throughout the duration of her retrospective at the MoMA, she sat at the center of the museum's atrium everyday in silence for as long as the museum was open. Visitors were welcomed to sit in silence directly in front of her for as long as they could.
The museum streamed the performance live everyday via webcam on its website. My brother managed to capture several screenshots of my experience sitting with Abramovic.
The area in which Abramovic sat was squared off by a line on the floor. Museum visitors wishing to sit with her were instructed to wait in line outside the marked off area. When their turn to sit came, visitors were given further instructions by a museum security guard.
1. Sit in silence
2. Look at Abramovic
3. Quietly walk out of the marked off area once done
I sat with Abramovic for 34 minutes before becoming unable to keep my concentration.
Between every sitter, Abramovic took a moment to compose herself.
The performance piece ran from March 14 to May 31, 2010. Abramovic sat for a total of 736 and a half hours.
In 2012, a full-length documentary was released outlining her career and MoMA retrospective.
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