It's not a good idea to go to the MOMA at 4.30 cause they chuck you out at 5.30 fyi. I had to go back the following day and pay again, but it was worth it to see all the naked people. "Why would somebody want to cause their body pain" my mother asked me. Its a good question, I wondered the same thing. The only answer is to go and see the retrospective. Its pretty powerful, but to have it all in the same space dilutes the power of the individual pieces. The level of 'uncomfortableness' was massively compromised. Its particularly impressive to see her in the flesh after seeing everything she has exposed herself to, apparently healthy and beautiful, in her long white robe staring people down all day. Imagining her pissing into a bag underneath it.
I didn't get to sit opposite her, but I drew her.
My favourite was a woman pinned to the wall, arms and legs outstretched and elevated above your head with a perfect box of light projected on to her.
Oh oh, I'm so glad you managed to go. What good timing for your US trip. Somehow in dissecting a lot of art you can twist it and build or raze it based on so many external or contextual things and somehow Marina's work has an integrity to it that you can't dismiss whether or not it moves you. It's harder to deny or question other people's pain and discomfort, it's fascinating and jarring on a really fundamental level. That's what I'm thinking...
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