Going for it

A few years back, the phrase "girl crush" came to the fore. Well, I have a girl crush on Marina Abramovic. "Girl crush" is way too vapid a reaction to the self-described "Grandmother of Performance Art," who remains silent throughout the hurlyburly—or whose pieces help cause the hurlyburly—of her MoMA performance (the nude performers standing in for Abramovic and Ulay on the top floor are fascinating on a number of levels). Back to the crush: what really strikes me is Abromovic's fearlessness. Even the literally cleaned up cow bones at MoMA's presentation of "Balkan Baroque"—done originally and in the stinky flesh for the 1997 Venice Biennale—are alarming, disgusting, provocative, brilliant, and successful in making a point. Some of Abramovic's pieces are weird, some scary, and some are downright goofy to me, but all are done with conviction and concentration.