“The crowds were lining up outside the Museum of Modern Art from the very first day of the performance,” writes artist Marina Abramovic in her memoir Walking Through Walls.
“The rules were simple: Each person could sit across from me for as short or as long a time as he or she wished. We would maintain eye contact. The public was not to touch me or speak to me. And so we began.”
Abramovic is describing an event she created called The Artist Is Present. It lasted for 75 days and over 1,500 people waited hours in line – often sleeping outside the museum – to sit across from her.
Some sat for a minute; some for an hour or more. One person sat twenty-one times, the first for seven hours. All 86 museum guards sat in front of her as well as celebrities like Lou Reed, Björk, Sharon Stone, and Isabella Rossellini.
What was the experience like emotionally for Abramovic?
She writes, “From the beginning, people were in tears and so was I. Was I a mirror? It felt like more than that. I could see and feel people’s pain. I think people were surprised by the pain that welled up in them. For one thing, I don’t think people ever really look into themselves.”
Have vou ever really looked into yourself?
Is there pain inside you that needs to be released?
How might you facilitate that process?
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