Making its Hudson homecoming, VisionaireFILM is pleased to present 130919 • A Portrait Of Marina Abramović, a 3D film by Matthew Placek. The film premiered at Miami Art Basel in 2013, featured at the Sundance Film Festival and numerous other festivals like The Toronto International Film Festival, the film returns to Hudson, its original place of production, being the first of the ongoing body of 3D moving portraits by Placek.
Throughout his work, Placek engages with both subject and viewer in a psychological manner through photography, video and digital art. He strives to immortalize the timeline of his subject in order to maintain and recall the memory of him or her. Like Placek, Abramović’s work is an engagement with the public. Her performative art has pushed her limits, the boundaries of society, and has transformed the culture of performance art. She began her career in the early 1970s and, through several personal experiences, has cultivated her work to explore the relationship between performer and audiences, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. She learned early on that art can come from nothing and does not need to be confined to a studio space. One of the her most courageous performances was Rhythm 0 in which she stood as an object, along with other objects such as a pistol, welcoming the amusement and interaction of the public. This essence rings true in Placek’s portrait.
By use of minimal elements, Placek paints a maximum visual on the journey that Abramović’s physical body has taken her mental strength. The camera pans onto the vulnerability and performative excellence of Abramović along with the institute’s environment. Viewers are offered an exposed view to both subjects, as Abramović stands naked and the walls stand unfinished. Placek’s personal relationship with Abramović is the nature of the film’s beauty and it shows in Abramović’s performance as she depicts a visual housewarming for what would become her legacy, The Marina Abramović Institute.
The work is installed in the Second Ward Foundation’s ground floor at 71 North 3rd Street, and will remain until June 26, 2016. Screenings are every 15 minutes by reservation to groups of 4 Thursday – Sunday from 12-6PM and by appointment Monday-Wednesday. The exhibition is free and open to the public.