The artist is present

The video game The Artist Is Present recreates the performance of Marina Abramovich’s performance “In the Artist’s Presence”, during which the artist sat still at a table in the center of the atrium at the New York Museum of Modern Art , and visitors took turns taking places at the opposite end of the table to sit with the artist and look into her eyes. The game itself is essentially a queue simulator, and the very waiting of the queue before meeting the artist takes a lot of time. As soon as you wait for your turn, you can look into the eyes of Marina Abramovich as much as you want ^[1] .

The Artist Is Present video game Pippin Barra is an attempt to convey the performance experience of Marina Abramovich in a virtual setting in which players control a tiny 8-bit character. Pippin Barr in his interview reports that he did not create this project to make any statement, or to be provocative or defiant, he really admires Marina Abramovich, and wanted to make the experience from the performance as reliable as possible ^[2] .

The virtual New York Museum of Modern Art Pippin Barra is not open if the real New York Museum of Modern Art is not open - this means that you can’t play the game until 10:30 or after 17:30 (Eastern Standard Time), Tuesdays, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. ^[2]

The first scene shows a pixelated version of the entrance doors to the New York Museum of Modern Art, through which the player’s character passes and finds inside the ticket office employee and security guard. Next, the player must purchase a ticket for 25 virtual dollars. Only after buying a ticket are players allowed to visit the gallery, which presents copies of lo-fi paintings ( English "low fidelity" - "low quality") of " Starry Night " by Vincent Van Gogh and cans of Andy Warhol's soup. Then the players are faced with a long line of 8-bit people, in which the player will have to stand for several hours ^[3] .

The video game The Artist Is Present took part in exhibitions such as The Name of the Game in the Stephen Lawrence Gallery, It's Art in the Game in the Museum Hilversum, Space Invaders by Nikolaj Kunsthal, Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right BA Start at SPACES, Pause: Computer Games and Cultural Contingencies at the Temporary Gallery, Brot und Spiele at Keine Humboldt Gallerie, The Aesthetics of Gameplay by SIGGRAPH Digital Arts Community (online) and Montréal Digital Arts Biennial at Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal.

1. ↑ A Performance Art Game: The Artist is Present (unspecified) ? . Indie Games Plus (September 15, 2011). Date of treatment August 28, 2019.
2. ↑ ^{1 2} New Video Game Delivers the Immersive Realism of Waiting 5 Hours in Line at a Museum (neopr.) . Kotaku. Date of treatment August 28, 2019.
3. ↑ Marina Abramovic's "The Artist is Present" Performance Becomes an Infuriating Video Game | BLOUIN ARTINFO (neopr.) . www.blouinartinfo.com. Date of treatment August 28, 2019.

The Artist Is Present official page

Pippin Barra Official Website