Thus far into Kraftwerk’s week-long residency at MoMA, not many individuals have popped up on Craigslist offering up their +1 for sale. Maybe it's because people who were lucky enough to purchase two tickets for one of the eight shows during the online sale/debacle must present an ID bearing the same name as the purchaser’s to gain entry into the concert. It’s a really big deal! So presumably they’re taking someone who is equally passionate about the music, or dragging a loved one who they’re trying to convert. (Which is never quite as magical as we hope.)

Whatever the case, it seems that most ticket holders don’t want [...]

"Last week, the artist agreed to begin her performance early, specifically to accommodate Björk, Matthew Barney, and their young daughter. But no more, says a source within MoMA's communications office (who also prefers not to be named). 'It has been a balancing act to accommodate the wishes of the artist with MoMA's responsibility to the public,' this source said. 'In these final days of the performance, no one will be seated with Abramovic before public hours.' Except, it turns out, Marisa Tomei, who was allowed early access to the artist on Sunday morning."

"In addition to the gropers, there have been less extreme but still unnerving encounters. Mr. Rawls, for example, said that standing with his arms at his side he had felt more erections 'across the back of my hand than I can count…'" -It's been rough sledding for the naked performers who are part of the Marina Abramović retrospective up at MoMA, many of whom have been victimized by inappropriate touching, surreptitious photography, bodysnarking, and, yes, the dreaded "hard cock against the back of the hand." Talk about suffering for art!

“You can actually make it to the front. I did it yesterday and it took 5 hours. But once you get to the front, you can stare into her eyes for as long as you want.” —Computer game research professor Pippin Barr discusses his videogame "The Artist Is Present," which "simulates the experience of waiting in line to see contemporary artist Marina Abramović, who held an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2010" of the same name. It's a funny old world. [Vaguely related]

From the introduction to The Penguin Dictionary of Saints, Third Edition: "The English word 'saint' is derived from the Latin epithet sanctus, which represents the Greek hagios and the Hebrew qâdosh … When applied to people and things [these words] meant hallowed, consecrated, set apart … they did not of themselves necessarily connote that high moral quality which is now inseparable from such words."

It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend here in town, offering the kind of "first days of spring" feeling that tempts one to forget that life is essentially meaningless and we are all ultimately alone. So I headed up to MoMA, because nothing helps me remember the existential horror of humanity better than the sculpture of Alberto Giacometti. While I was wandering through the museum I could not help but notice the Marina Abramović performance piece "The Artist Is Present." There are other Abramović pieces being performed upstairs, which include nudity. Nudity! But let's talk about the one where she sits at a table and stares. I was surprised by [...]