The first piece, Soldadera (Scenes from Un Banquete en Tetlapyac) was a two-channel video by the artist Andrea Fraser. It presented a female peasant, Frances Flynn Paine, played by Fraser herself as a heroic figure set in the 1930s. This was juxtaposed next to scenes of Eisenstein at the Hacienda de Tetlapayac in Mexico.

Boxing was a 8mm film transferred to 16mm from Romanian artist Ion Grigorescu. He was known for making work on the political regime in a time of social decline. The country in the late 70s was impoverished and authoritarian. In Boxing, Grigorescu, he fights with an image of himself. It’s as if he is fighting his own alternate persona.

Kadar Attia’s slide projection titled “Open Your Eyes” (2010) juxtaposes disfigured soldiers of war to broken pottery. Two histories unfold through a presentation-style-display that reinterprets two contrasting processes. The collection of both non-western techniques of repair and occidental cultures relay an idealistic interpretation of restoration and collective objects.

Martha Rosler’s She Sees in Herself a New Woman Every Day is an installation of twelve chromogenic color prints presented in a gird and an audio recording of a female speaking with an abusive mother whom is not present on the other end. Rosler’s piece offers a personal examination of international politics has on one’s vernacular activities.

In Deimantas Narkevicius’s Once in the XX Century, is a video comprised of reversed Lithuanian television clips. The statue of Lenin is shown being erected and not disassembled. Therefore, the socialist party is starting instead of terminating.

Performance Histories was not only about a different perspective on historical events but a memory capsulated by cinema. This offered new ways to deconstruct important moments by creating a vantage point from a performative structure. This repository of social, political, and cultural narratives were reassembled into an unfamiliar storytelling. One can’t help but reflect upon the similarity to the recent Documenta 13’s statement (along with the inclusion of Kader Attia’s work) by suggesting that the viewer creates his or her own connections through a diverse range of artists. There were direct relationships and therefore, more information might have made a stronger introduction into the show. As a collection of works, it was well curated. The next part of the exhibition will be highly anticipated.

– Tiffany Trenda

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This year was an upset to the art world as the Academy Awards didn’t nominate Ai Weiwei or Marina Abramović’s “The Artist is Present”.

Marina Abramović is an internationally recognized performance artist who released a documentary this last year. Her film “The Artist Is Present” was not nominated for the 85th annual Academy Awards. This movie archived her retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 2010. This film gave non-art-goers a glimpse into the art world and to have them understand what performance art actually is-besides Lady Gaga who has claimed herself as a performance artist.

Marina Abramović is considered on of the pioneers of performance art originating out of ground breaking durational pieces like Rhythm Zero where she allowed visitors to do extreme acts upon her. For example, they cut her, dressed her as a whore, and even put a loaded gun to her head.

The Artist is Present is retrospective that included other performers redoing her well known pieces and the artist herself, sitting for the duration of the museum hours staring face to face with the public. This event has become of the most historical exhibitions to date and the performance will be remembered for generations to come. It touched the hearts of many-even making some cry and created record breaking lines of people waiting to have their personal experience with the artist.

The Oscars are a completely different animal for Abramovic. We all remember the upset with known street artist, Banksy in the documentary, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” which was nominated for the 2011 Academy Awards. This year we have already noticed that the Academy does not understand the importance of art history. Will the art world ever catch the eye of the commercial film world? Obviously not this year.

For more information on MOMA’s exhibition visit their website:  http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965

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