Have you guys read about "the artist is present" show at the MOMA? Long story short, this performance artist Marina Abramovic is having a career retrospective and for part of it she's sitting in a chair and people can line up and look at her. It's a big deal, lots of people cry, and there are famous people. Here's a flickr stream of the portraits. This would activate so many of my peeves about lines. For one thing, there are VIPs that go straight to the front of the line in the morning. For another, people can sit as long as they want to! One woman sat ALL DAY. So you could line up for 8 hours and not get in. Also, I read that people leave their backpacks and stuff as placeholders in the line, or one friend holds the line for three other friends. I would be boiling with rage! Also, if I got up there I'm sure I would HATE the picture of me (I mean, look how bad Isabella Rosellini looks!) and probably freak out about it forever. Other than that, it seems cool.Smiller sent me these sentences from someone's review of New Canton on Yelp. I'm starting to think there should be some kind of minimum standard for yelp reviews. So that it can't degenerate into "me baby, me no like":
On a recent visit last weekend, the overall experience was just ok. The waitstaff was attentive, but the food? Not so much. Some of the plates were cold and meh tasting, which makes me bummed and do the sad face. Boo...and I hate it when that happens.
oh yeah, and look at this!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.midtownmonthly.net/blog/thats-uh-mazing/
I'm mega bummed I'm going to miss this exhibition before it's gone. The piece about her and the exhibit in the New Yorker back is March is fantastic. Her description of what she wants for her funeral is such a brilliant idea:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/03/08/100308fa_fact_thurman
yeah, I was paging through all the pictures and it brings up so many issues. Like, is it cruel to her for you to sit there for a really long time? She's already suffering from soul-crushing boredom (8 hours a day and 10 hours some day) so the least she could get is some variety. And then there are a few people that keep repeating and I'm convinced some of them are her friends. She doesn't look well. I read that she is taking an appetite suppresant.
ReplyDeleteher physical extremes are insane. i have a friend who just edited a book entry about her piece the "House with the Ocean View" where my friend was asked to replace the word "defecate" with "go to the bathroom" by the editor which in the context of Ambramovic's work seems really funny. i've watched several of her video works most of which can be so painful to watch given what she is doing to herself. it's like she's performing the acts on someone else. the new yorker article portrays her as surprisingly playful which i really liked.
ReplyDeleteThese are the people who are helping you decide where to eat.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/25d99q8
gbomb
I'm confused about the exhibit...she's sitting there and that flickr stream is people that are looking at her?
ReplyDelete-MH
oh god that thread is awful. i hate how people use the term "ghetto" as a code word. i love to flag people like that. or i did back when i read yelp more.
ReplyDeleteyeah, she sits in a chair for either 8 or 10 hours a day. she doesn't eat or drink or go to the bathroom. you can sit down across from her and just look into her eyes. you're not allowed to talk or touch her or anything. there are guards. there are pictures of her on the flickr pages too. they take one once a day. usually she's just sitting there. sometimes she cries.
did anyone look at amber's reviews?
ReplyDelete"I left uncomfortable so I ended up leaving"
Take a picture- it lasts longer
ReplyDeleteEd
Smartly she seems to really moisturize for her day of sitting.
ReplyDeleteI am with you on the line. I can really whip up a rage.
The line into the drive in almost kills me everytime. So much cutting.
natalie
I will see anyone's line rage & raise them standing behind a guy at La Bonne ordering 14 sandwiches & 11 soups.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe someone went to this exhibit & sat there all day! How could your mind completely shut out the fact that a huge line of people were waiting in vain as you sat there??
-miller
I was reading someone's impression and they thought that the line was a part of the experience - that she wanted you to be forced to wait in line.
ReplyDeleteThey were talking about how they though the point was that we don't really look at each other - and that's a form of our communication. She said that when she was in line (which was 8 hours and she never got to actually sit) she ended up talking to 6 strangers in the course of that time.
I thought that was interesting.
They were also talking about how the people in the VIP line don't stay very long at all - and they're like the rabbit in the race--trying to get things moving. That seemed weird.
this ladies and gentlemen is the art world and one of the reasons that art fairs and other places where large groups of art nerds congregate drive me nuts.
ReplyDeleteI'm 13 and a half years in to my art project where I stare at a computer screen for 8 hours a day. I won't quit until this bastard sheds a tear.
ReplyDelete-miller
Your computer is crying on the inside - that's how deep the pain is.
ReplyDeleteI asked one of our Art School neighbors where he was moving. He said "Utah, to Moab." and I asked why. Of course he answered "it's for an art project I'm working on."
ReplyDeleteBullshit.
I'm guessing some sucker agreed to let him stay at their house for free. Maybe the project is to see how long that lasts.
But Miller, seriously, keep up the good work. The retrospective of your work is going to be amazing.
EC
how abramovic pees:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.artfagcity.com/2010/05/10/the-mysterious-location-of-marina-abramoviks-pee/
Look, Ryan was quoted in the Bee.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/19/2760699/ghost-bikes-mark-deaths-in-sacramento.html
Charles
Miller, I think your computer screen is staring at you for eight hours a day, waiting for you to shed a tear. I think that's what all work computer screens are doing - it's one massive art project meant to reveal the connections between work, technology and emotion. And other deep, important stuff.
ReplyDeletesmiller-
ReplyDeleteI forbid you to read any of those 208 comments on the bee article! you'll get too mad.
I got infuriated with the comments. It's a pretty good article though, I am glad there are ghost bikes now.
ReplyDeletegbomb
It warms my heart to learn that I'm not the only stickler for line etiquette. A coworker still holds a grudge against me for not giving him cuts ahead of 50 people in a 5.30a airport security line.
ReplyDeleteI'd say that overall there are way more levelheaded comments than there would've been a few years ago. There are still some seriously annoying ones but the amount of reasoned comments by cyclists make the idiot ones really stand out. Overall it makes me hopeful that Sac is actually moving towards real improvements for cycling. That said, this guy does have a point:
ReplyDeleteFrankly, because so many bike riders are so arrogant, i think that it is time to ban them outright.
-miller