Help me understand "art." Vol. Marina Abramovic

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So, Jemima Kirke (Girls) allegedly was dragged out of the Picasso Baby shoot b/c she was draped all over Jay Z. In watching the actual video, the girl looks a little TOO intense. I mean, is it that serious? In reading about her being taken out by security, I came across this nugget:

This isn’t the first time that Kirke, a painter who plays the bohemian Jessa Johansson on the popular HBO show, has lost control during a performance art piece. In 2010 she was photographed bawling her eyes out at performance artist Abramovic’s “The Artist Is Present” MoMA exhibition, where Abramovic sat still for more than 700 hours, simply staring at visitors who took turns sitting across from her. Called for comment about their client’s Jay Z meltdown, Kirke’s reps said they knew nothing of the incident.

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Out of curiosity, I googled Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present" just to see what the hype was about. Here's a little background:

Jemima Kirke has had, by all accounts, an awesome year. She plays dreamy bohemian Jessa on Lena Dunham's hit show "Girls," has a painting career on the rise and is expecting her second child. So what does she have to cry about?

This gem of a photograph was taken before Kirke became famous for her role on the HBO series, when she was visiting Marina Abramovic's 2010 performance "The Artist Is Present" at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In the performance piece, visitors sat facing a silent Abramovic for as long as they wished. Abramovic sat in the museum for a total of 716 hours and 30 minutes across from more than 1500 people -- an experience documented in a film by the same name.

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In the link is a photo gallery of people crying their eyes out in front of Abramovic.

I just don't get it. Why? Someone PLEASE explain to me the genius behind this and why exactly it's art.

I'm not being a snob about this...I can look at a painting or sculpture in a gallery and appreciate the vision of the artist. This, on the other hand, I just don't understand. Not only that...but why are people having these reactions?
 
art has many forms, made for different audiences and not always understood by all.

some things catch on, some don't. maybe its something they're experiencing because they're emotionally invested, on some level in their life they've placed importance upon it that you can't digest. just like there is stuff in your own life they wouldn't be able to comprehend or have compassion about.
 
This comment on Gawker sums up my feelings:

slugboy7

Anyone that's lived in NYC for a period of time knows this type- they go to art shows and they "engage" with the art in the most narcissistic ways to prove that the "get it" or that they are "challenging" the artist. "I made Jay Z come out of his preprogramed comfort zone and forced him to 'deal with me'"

Whatever... no one likes those people.

Makes sense...
 
the Artist is Present kinda gave me a feel, not gonna lie

i think was just seeing people sit silent and the breakdown and trying to figure out why they become so emotional

you just wonder what they're thinking, and then you start thinking about all your crap, your mind sort of runs away from you

i have no idea why though, watch the doc.
 
Guess art is the new black now. Like this **** ain't ever exist before?
 
Could've posted this in the other thread. Art can be anything. If people want to pay attention to something and spend money on it then fine.
 
I also want to add that actress has some nice looking boobs, that is art to me.
 
a friend and I had this conversation recently when she was sending me pics from the VMFA.

we decided that a lot of art is just ********/an excuse to do some weird **** under the guise of "expression".

like there are some actual beautiful pieces but then there's like period blood paintings, and people standing in a room screaming and vomiting on a piece of poster board calling it art. then you have the people like "I really understand this. I can feel this." staring at a painted black rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside it (I am describing a real piece of art).
 
So Jemima cried during the Picasso baby performance....?

never mind, just read that she was clingy to jay and wouldnt let him go
 
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Performance art is something that has much more substance when discussed and argued about than actually seen.

It's generally cheesy and snobby. Often only offering substance when dissected abstractly and pondered over. It's not enjoyable (inb4 lol art isnt meant to please you go watch tv etc) nor is it really anything.

Superfluous and kitch
 
Why OP
WHY

1000
 
a friend and I had this conversation recently when she was sending me pics from the VMFA.

we decided that a lot of art is just ********/an excuse to do some weird **** under the guise of "expression".

like there are some actual beautiful pieces but then there's like period blood paintings, and people standing in a room screaming and vomiting on a piece of poster board calling it art. then you have the people like "I really understand this. I can feel this." staring at a painted black rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside it (I am describing a real piece of art).


Maybe the artist is using the blood as a form of paint in going away from the traditional tools like acrylics and pastels. Maybe it could be a take on how female blood is looked at as something of disgust and filth and in an attempt to empower and bring light to the positive aspects of periods?

sometimes you have to peel back some layers before the art "makes sense" you can't just walk into a museum and look at certain pieces for 30 seconds and expect "to get it"

not to sound like a snob or pretentious, but you really have to take a journey within the art to really understand it. I mean do some people front and act like they understand and are totally aware of whats going on? sure, people do with anything in society to fit in with everyone else. But just like any other thing we as humans consume or create for pleasure, you have to fully involve yourself into the subject.
 
Art's all about what you yourself like.

Learn about the artists that strike a chord with you personally, and use that as a starting point for further self education.

Looking at art as "trendy" or even putting the word art in quotations is corny and self defeatist. That's like people who dismiss nice restaurants and food as too fancy.
 
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Marina Abramović and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again.

At her 2010 MoMA retrospective Marina performed 'The Artist Is Present' as part of the show, where she shared a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing and this is what happened.



 
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