Waiting for the Artist

Posted on by The Wandering Art Historian

I love parody and documentaries which makes me the ideal target audience for the show “Documentary Now!”  “Documentary Now!” is an IFC original show (all three seasons are currently streaming on Netflix) with the sole purpose of parodying the very best documentaries ever made.  I was thrilled to hear the creators were going to tackle “The Artist is Present” in its current season and the episode did not disappoint.  “The Artist is Present” is a landmark 2012 documentary about performance artist Marina Abramovic and her career retrospective at MoMA in 2010.

How does one parody a documentary about a performance artist?  The creators enlisted the help of Cate Blanchett to play Izabella Barta, a version of artist Marina Abramovic, and together they craft the hilarious parody documentary, “Waiting for the Artist.”  What makes this parody so profound is that they film and photograph comical versions of Abramovic’s actual performance pieces.  The images attached to this post illustrate how similar the parody is to the original, so much so that it may be difficult to differentiate the two.  The attention to detail and the brilliant comedic take by Cate Blanchett combines to make this send-up one of the best of the whole series.

“Waiting for the Artist” is episode 4 of season 3 and can be streamed on Netflix.

 

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I am writer and artist with a degree in art history who loves to talk to people about art. I have spent the last seven years building up The Wandering Art Historian “brand” as a way to connect with people who want to learn more about art. I give lectures and presentations and teach classes and host book club discussions with a creative or artistic connection. I also write about local artists, events, museums, and exhibitions to promote the arts in Central Florida. In 2021, I had a creative crisis. I struggled with authenticity in the art making process. I decided to make myself vulnerable and find out what a real, genuine Adrienne H. Lee artwork would look like. The process was challenging and emotional and revelatory. I learned that if necessity is the mother of invention, then authenticity is the mother of reinvention. I reinvented myself and learned an entirely new medium. The resulting artwork surprised me, and it will surprise you, too. Some people wish for a fairytale ending. For me, the fairy tale is only the beginning.