a poem for marina

This weekend I saw the Marina Abramović exhibit at the MoMa. It was amazing and inspiring and I was really moved and changed by it. The performance I found most inspiring was with her longtime lover and collaborator Ulay. When they first fell in love, they talked about walking the length of the Great Wall of China, meeting in the middle and getting married. As they continued to work together for the better part of 10 years, their relationship dissolved and the project evolved: they decided they would walk the length of the wall, meet in the middle, and say goodbye. It took them 90 days, and the resulting film is nearly 17 hours long. When Zac and I went to the exhibit on Saturday, we just happened to be there when the segment of film showing their meeting was projected onto the wall. It made me cry. It was the last project they ever did together.

Part of the MoMA exhibit is Abramovic sitting at a table in a big open room with an empty chair across from her. Patrons of the museum are invited to sit across from her silently and just absorb the experience. I really wanted the chance to sit across from her, but there was a line to get in and a guy sat there for the entire time we were in the museum anyway. So instead we just sat on the floor and Zac sketched and I wrote a poem for her. Here it is.

--

the artist is present
but what does that mean?
when I walked in the museum today
I heard a group of people
laughing boisterously
at a media work on the wall
they said things like
Oh my God
It's a woman
Sucking Juices
Ew
That's gross
I hope that's Jell-o
the masses are so stupid
but at the MoMA
that's who you're speaking to
just a mass of dumb shits
checking things off a list
so I guess my point is
what's the point of art?
why do we make it?
who do we want to reach?
then I walked into the atreum
and saw this shit happening
I sat on the floor
and asked my friend
Do you think he's part of this
Or just a random person?
he said
Oh, he's part of it
I said
I'm not so sure
I got up to read the wall
I realized
what was happening
the world started to spin
my heart started to pump
I got so excited.
I have always lived for this stuff
like this
but I'm just now
realizing it
relearning who I am
the artist is present
and always has been