THE PLOT THUS FAR
Seductive, fearless, and outrageous, Marina Abramovic has been redefining art for nearly forty years. Using her body as a vehicle, she creates performances that challenge, shock, and move us. Marina Abramovic The Artist Is Present is a mesmerizing journey into the world of radical performance, and an intimate portrait of an astonishing magnetic, endlessly intriguing woman who draws no distinction between life and art.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
“The Artist is Present” is Marina Abramovic exposed before the world. Plus, it satiates my demand for weird performance art. Anyone who tries to do their own version of Seedbed or makes people stare at her for hours on end is amazing. So much of what Abramovic does is reperformance. I’ve never quite seen an artist who works as a functional mirror for all of her contemporaries while serving to redefine the rules of what they do. It’s fascinating and without any recent parallel.
Ms. Abramovic’s face is magnificent, filled with pain, deep silence and supreme mystery. She did this every day for three months. The sheer fortitude that this must have taken is astounding. The amount of raw emotion that she must have absorbed is exhausting just to think about. But, most of her work has been about pain. Whether it’s stabbing herself in the hand repeatedly or enduring a relationship ending trek across the Great Wall of China. Pain defines the person and allows the world to meet the artist.
The DVD comes with featurettes and galleries that cover past performances. The A/V Quality is quite supportive with a strong Dolby mix. However, the transfer ranges very wildly depending on where the material was being shot. It’s not a deal breaker, but it’s pretty garish at points. Still, I’d recommend a purchase to the curious.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
