Josephine Decker preparing to sit with Marina Abramović
Decker waiting in line outside of MoMA
may not be present at MoMA anymore, but her internet presence will never die. We got in touch with one of the performance artist's final (and controversial) face-to-face guests, who until now has just been referred to as the streaker. 29-year-old Josephine Decker (who camped out to be first in line) did indeed strip down for Marina during her last day of "The Artist Is Present," but why? Here's what she told us:
Marina's retrospective—the most thrilling museum exhibit I have ever experienced—transformed the way I think about my body, art, spirituality and, of course, how raw meat would smell during its third day in your lap. She works so hard to touch deep, frightening, transcendent parts of herself and humanity and to share that experience. I stood in front of the video of her and Ulay screaming into each other’s mouths and felt my world rock like her very full bowl of milk. I thought hard about how to thank her—write a letter, make a film and hand it to her when I sat with her? When I landed on the idea of sitting naked across from her, I knew that was it. I could be, for a moment, as vulnerable to her as she constantly makes herself to us.
Alas, when her moment came, and she disrobed, seven security guards quickly made their way over to escort her out of the museum. Decker tells us:
