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Marina's Unexpected Nude Speaks Out
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 2, 2010
Modified Jun 2, 2010
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By
Jen Carlson
Published Jun 2, 2010
Modified Jun 2, 2010
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Josephine Decker preparing to sit with Marina Abramović
Decker waiting in line outside of MoMA
may not be present at MoMA anymore, but her internet presence will never die. We got in touch with one of the performance artist's final (and controversial) face-to-face guests, who until now has just been referred to as the streaker. 29-year-old Josephine Decker (who camped out to be first in line) did indeed strip down for Marina during her last day of "The Artist Is Present," but why? Here's what she told us:
Marina's retrospective—the most thrilling museum exhibit I have ever experienced—transformed the way I think about my body, art, spirituality and, of course, how raw meat would smell during its third day in your lap. She works so hard to touch deep, frightening, transcendent parts of herself and humanity and to share that experience. I stood in front of the video of her and Ulay screaming into each other’s mouths and felt my world rock like her very full bowl of milk. I thought hard about how to thank her—write a letter, make a film and hand it to her when I sat with her? When I landed on the idea of sitting naked across from her, I knew that was it. I could be, for a moment, as vulnerable to her as she constantly makes herself to us.
Alas, when her moment came, and she disrobed, seven security guards quickly made their way over to escort her out of the museum. Decker tells us:
I thought nudity would bring joy, spontaneity! Not TEARS, CHAOS. I honestly thought that the worst that would happen was that I would be asked to put my clothes back on. I still can’t believe I was escorted out of the building by a group of guards and told that if I returned, I would be arrested. In “The Artist is Present,” the audience is a huge part of the work, and by entering that space and following the rules (sit silently, do not bring anything into the space, maintain eye contact, and the unstated one: don’t touch Marina), I expected any audience member could stay as long as he or she was willing to be present.
Decker was not allowed back in to the museum even if she put her clothes back on. We've contacted MoMA and will update should they decide to issue a statement about the incident... because really, it's not like Decker was the only nude in that museum that became, albeit temporarily, a part of Marina's retrospective.
UPDATE: They have no comment, but unsurprisingly MoMA does have a no nudity policy for visitors!
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Josephine Decker
marina Abramovic
moma
naked
security
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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