Marina Abramović and Tim Burton

The Marina Abramović and Tim Burton exhibit at the MOMA have been the shows I've heard the most about recently. The response I get when I tell anyone I've been at the MOMA that day or the day before is either, "Oh, did you see the Tim Burton Exhibit?" or "Oh, did you see that exhibit with all the naked people?" The Tim Burton had a limited number of timed tickets to enter, which usually sold out, I feel like this added to the allure, it seemed like there was really something to see because unless you bought tickets early you weren't going to be able to get in (On Friday nights when the museum is free the first 1500 people in line get tickets to TB which is why I ended up seeing it).



While the Marina Abramović is all the way on the 6th floor Abramović herself is impossible to avoid. She sits in at a table inside a large box in the atrium on the second floor with an open chair opposite herself which people are invited to sit in one at a time for any length of time. She does not respond to people although I have not seen anyone do anything when they sat down except make slight facial expressions. When people get up and leave the table she puts her head down and closes her eyes. She reopens then once the next person has sat down.

The first two times I went to the MOMA while the exhibit has been running I wasn't planning on seeing anything but the Kentridge exhibit but it's very hard to walk by this performance and not stop for at least 5 minutes. The MOMA is already a strange environment becuase it is such a tourist attraction but it seems like a lot of the people who end up there don't really know what to expect. I wrote a little about this when writing about the Kentridge exhibit but it is a lot more evident along the perimeter of Abramović's box. The people who wander into the rooms at the Kentridge exhibit at least have decided to check it out but everyone who decides to take the stairs instead of the elevator has to walk by Abramović. If you listen to the passing chatter for a few minutes you'll definitely hear a few versions of: "I don't get it", "What is this?", or "I think it's a staring contest". But a lot of people also seem drawn in, maybe the performance is so mesmerizing becuase it is so much the center of attention and because there always so many people around, all focused on the same two still people but it's hard to pass by it without stopping.

The rest of the exhibit on the 6th floor is preceded by a few warning signs about "live nude performers". There are two entrances to the main part of the exhibit one, the "real" entrance" is a very narrow space between two walls with two naked people standing on either side of the opening. There is a line of people who pass through the space between the people one at a time. There are a few articles and a slide show from the NYTimes with pictures. Of course this being the only entrance/exit wouldn't work for safety reasons so there is a larger open entrance at the other end of the room. Surprisingly one of the most popular things about the exhibit seems to be gathering on the inside of the human entryway and watching people pass through.

The rest of the 6th floor part of the exhibit is images and videos of Abramović's past performances and re-creations of these performances by other people. This is where the paths of the Abramović and Tim Burton exhibit's converge in what is best described as a "Retrospectacle".



The entrance to the Tim Burton exhibit mirrors the entrance to the Abramović exhibit in a probably unintended way. After a warning about timed tickets and a ticket taker who rips off the stub on your ticket that tells you what time to enter the exhibit (6:30 for me) there is a narrow hallway with a row of televisions playing some of Burton's videos. This room serves a dual purpose as both "viewing room" and "hallway" sort of like the "human hallway" upstairs. On the 6th floor there is a MOMA employee there making sure you don't inapropriately touch the performers. On the 3rd floor there is a MOMA employee telling you, "there is no line, if you want to watch the videos stand against the wall, walk through on the left." It's a performance in the art of confusion.

Inside the Tim Burton exhibit is a mix of things ranging from pieces used in the animation of films like The Nightmare Before Christmas or a model of Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands to sketches and other images and videos Burton has created over the years. I didn't spend too much time inside, I walked around once, but there didn't seem to be too much organization to the whole thing, it was just stuff by Tim Burton. A lot of it was interesting but after hearing about "The Tim Burton Exhibit" for so long and being around so many people so excited! to be there it was more of a spectacle than a showcase.



Of course, the Abramović exhibit intentionally walks this line between showcase and spectacle but it comes off in the wrong way. As some reviews of Exit Through the Giftshop: A Banksy Film
have asked, is the performance in it's setting at the MOMA in 2010 doing more to work against itself than not? Abramović's current performance on the 2nd floor works because of it's solitariness, the retrospective on the 6th floor is too much at once. The spectacle which downstairs is kept at bay by the space around the performers and everyone's focus on the same space is lost on the 6th floor. I'm not saying that the participatory elements of the performances on the 6th floor detract from its effect but in the same way the Tim Burton exhibit loses itself in it's everythingness the spectacle of the Abramović retrospective overwhelms the interesting parts about it.

The Marina Abramović exhibit runs until May 31, the Tim Burton exhibit is now over. There is a live video feed of Abramović here when the museum is open. All images are from the MOMA Flickr. Click 'read more' to see still versions of the images. Did you catch Lou Reed in there?