On May 31, 2010, I livetweeted the end of Marina Abramovic’s MoMA performance, The Artist Is Present, as experienced online via Marinacam. A few other folks were tweeting in person, including artists Man Bartlett (@manbartlett), Amy White (@parallelarts), and @museumnerd.
Over the years, this collection of tweets has been one of a few small things that kept me from deleting all my old tweets. I’m documenting them here to remove that obstacle. For the moment, they’re still visible on Twitter here.
The tweets are interspersed with screenshots from the Marina Abramovic Webcam tumblr.
In addition to backing these up from twitter, this post was prompted by Abramovic’s announcement that she is releasing an NFT series, 25 FPS, comprised of frames of video of her sitting on a horse holding a white flag, part of her 2001 video work, The Hero. Her talk at Art Basel was literally titled The NFT is Present, and I could not be more nonplussed if she said she was minting NFTs of the 1545 headshots Marco Anelli took of her sitters, including my own damn face.
Anyway, this livetweet really was the beginning of the end for me with Abramovic. In an instant, the Artist’s presence was replaced by the Celebrity, as she gladhanded for the camera crews she’d brought for herself. The gala that followed, where she appeared in a custom Givenchy jacket made from 127 endangered pythons, and fed guests chocolate casts of her own lips, felt for a moment like an absolute betrayal, but really, it was all perfectly on point. And so is a late and desperate scramble for relevance by selling boring af selfies of someone who brags about not knowing how to write an email. Anyway, enjoy!
6:18AM
30 ppl in line since midnight. 15 min sitting limit. Whatever it was before, the last day of the show is sounding like Marinapalooza.
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:10 PM
@museumnerd Dude[ette], take that woman sitting with Marina a tissue, willya? She’s having a hard time.
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:26PM
Sheesh, another instacryer. these Last Days of Marina Disco folks are hardcore. #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:28 PM
alright, that’s 3 out of the last 4. When will we find out the Marina line has been hijacked by Improv Anywhere? #instacryer #15minutes
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:33 PM
The Matrix 4, starring Wallace Spawn #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:34 PM
Dude’s still wearing the sneakers from his commute. #15 minutes, #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:41 PM
The star of My Dinner With Neo is Present. thnx @starwarsmodern #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg)May 31, 2010
3:45 PM
everyone’s trying to get Marina to mimic/respond. #handonaheartbody #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:47 PM
this high churn gives Marina a lot of downtime #slacker #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:52 PM
finally, someone’s sitting back. #chillinwithmarina #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:56 PM
Whoa, didn’t see that comin’. Chillibrarian made Marina cry #abramovic #15minutes
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:57 PM
Forget who wears short shorts. I wanna know who wears fugly sneakers? #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
3:59 PM
Hello, dude in background with Bluetooth keyboard #15minutes #ipad #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:01 PM
Seriously, why is every. single. person crying? Didn’t they see Marina’s houses in the NYT? She’s going to a better place. TWO. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:04 PM
thnx, I’m clearly the nonmeditative one in the #abramovic tweetcrowd @timnyc @gregorg is live tweeting Abramović finale. Good stuff
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:07 PM
theory for the #15minutes limit on #abramovic: designed to thwart That Guy who decides (at 1130A) he’s gonna close it out.
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:09 PM
finally, some decent shoes. #lessismore #sandals #15minutes #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:10 PM
Losing track of place and time while sitting with Marina is no excuse for going out of the house in those shoes, people. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:11 PM
whoa, that was NOT 15 minutes. They’ve cut the limit. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:16 PM
First the guy in the white Neo cloak, now an atypically large number of black folk. Marina is The Oracle. #haveacookie #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:17 PM
Finally, someone not crying. Marina looks relieved. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:21 PM
Another instacryer. Like everything in the last hr of the piece, that respite didn’t last long. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:22 PM
@parallelarts is livetweeting #abramovic from within reach of Marina’s aura. Maybe from the atrium with a bluetooth keyboard, hmm?
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:24 PM
Seriously, the churn. The Artist Is Present will know be known as Quick, Get Your Photo Taken By Marco Anelli #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:25 PM
@museumnerd that’s what you get for standing naked in a doorway at MoMA
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:26 PM
Sitters now changing faster than I can reload the Marinacam #1hrphoto #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:31 PM
Do sneakers look good on ANYBODY? Marco is doing these people a HUGE favor by only shooting headshots. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:32 PM
WHOA. @manbartlett crowdshot. The guards definitely have their work cut out for them. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:33 PM
That crowd, this ending, Klaus is cackling on the inside. Ausgezeichnet… #abramovic#teambiesenbach
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:34 PM
Note to Taniguchi: MoMA needs more skyboxes. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:35 PM
That’s right, Lama bringing it home, showing how it’s done. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:41 PM
Aha, @parallelarts #Abramovic holds arms across her chest, appears to be signal she’s done with last sitter
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:43 PM
believe me, it’s been worse. @hragv Lama dude, hurry up. Btw, your shoes look incongruous with your ensemble. #Abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:44 PM
KLAUS IN DA HAUS! #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:48 PM
Don’t steal her thunder, Klaus! @museumnerd Will he be the last sitter? #abramovic #teambiesenbach
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:49 PM
On second thought, stay as long as you want, Klaus. You’ve earned it. #teambiesenbach #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:53 PM
The Artist Is Present, Bowing, Introducing The Rest Of The Cast #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:54 PM
turn and wave to the Marinacam! over here! over here! #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:55 PM
Maybe it’s the nudity, but those Marina performers all have great shoes. #abramovic #alessontousall
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:56 PM
Wide shot. If there were a curtain, it’d be going up and down and up and down. [Get me Martin Creed on the horn] #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:56 PM
Marina workin’ the room. That would be the Marron Atrium, btw. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:57 PM
I know it looks like it ended early, but remember, she stayed late for the Barney/Bjorks. #italladdsup #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:58 PM
Waiting for all the performers to drop their labcoats. #encore #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
4:59 PM
Marina’s so chatty. #whoknew #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:01 PM
hava negilah perhaps? crowdsurfing? #whatsnext #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:02 PM
MoMA seems to have relaxed its no cameras rule #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:03 PM
There are 4 cameras and two boom mikes on her. Something tells me the performance is continuing. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:04 PM
Giving Ving Reams a big hug. Does MoMA have a green room? #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) >May 31, 2010
5:05 PM
a group photo? a line? it’s like the beginning and ending of a football game, combined. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:06 PM
25 minutes til MoMA closes, maybe take in the Cartier-Bresson show?
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:07 PM
The Artist Is Not Present, Just Two Sets Of Marks For The Chairs. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:08 PM
Marinacam zoomed back in to where the chairs aren’t. #encore #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:10 PM
Techs breaking the set. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:13 PM
Bro’s on the phone, is all, “Hey, I’m on the Marinacam!” #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
5:13 PM
And we are done. #abramovic
— gregorg (he/him) (@gregorg) May 31, 2010
previously, related: How do you solve a problem like Klaus?