Film Club: Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
Join us for Film Club as we devel into the world of modern art with MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT. Each month we present a film from our Madelyn Osur Film Library on the screen at the Rocky Mountain Women’s Film office inside the Lincoln School. These screenings are free and open to the public with a small suggested donation of $5.
Doors Open at 6:30 pm
Film Begins at 7:00 pm
All seating for Film Club is first come, first served. Please let us know you are coming, so we can plan for this event. There is no need to print or bring your ticket with you to the event. Just arrive 15 minutes before the film screening begins to secure your seat.
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MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT
Directed by Matthew Akers and Jeff Dupre
Even when encountering masterpieces like the Mona Lisa, museum-goers often spend as little as 30 seconds pondering the work before moving on. But in the case of “The Artist is Present,” a hugely popular exhibit by performance artist extraordinaire Marina Abramović at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), many attendees stayed for hours – some after waiting all night. Even more remarkable, the exhibit was breathtaking in its simplicity: two chairs facing each other, with Abramović sitting in one and audience members taking turns sitting in the other, gazing into each other’s eyes in silence. In true Abramović style, she remained in the chair for seven and a half hours each day – every day that the museum was open for three months – without eating, drinking or moving from her seated position, a feat of mental and physical endurance that is challenging even for a veteran of such performances. Part of a blockbuster retrospective exhibit of Abramović’s controversial work, which took place from March to May 2010 at MoMA, the work and the artist are now the focus of a captivating new HBO feature-length documentary, MARINA ABRAMOVIĆ THE ARTIST IS PRESENT. From first-time director Matthew Akers, the film is an exclusive, behind-the-scenes portrait of Abramović, who some affectionately call “the grandmother of performance art.”
Seductive, fearless, and outrageous, Marina Abramovic has been redefining what art is for nearly forty years. Using her own body as a vehicle, pushing herself beyond her physical and mental limits–and at times risking her life in the process–she creates performances that challenge, shock, and move us. Through her and with her, boundaries are crossed, consciousness expanded, and art as we know it is reborn. She is, quite simply, one of the most compelling artists of our time. — (C) Music Box Films
