For a months-long MoMA exhibit, artist Marina Abramovi? is sitting for seven or more hours a day as visitors are invited to face her, in silence, for as long as they wish. Kottke describes a Flickr gallery of hundreds of portraits:
The photographs are mesmerizing…face after face of intense concentration. A few of the participants even appear to be crying (this person and this one too) and several show up multiple times (the fellow pictured above sat across from Abramovi? at least half-a-dozen times). The photos are annotated with the duration of each seating. Most stay only a few minutes but this woman sat there for six and a half hours.
She is pictured above. Here is an image of the artist she is looking at. A Tumblr of criers here. Kottke is compiling many more interesting anecdotes, such as this one:
In between each of these sitters, Abramovi? looked down and closed her eyes, resetting her gaze and gathering energy. When she looked up again, sitting opposite her was none other than Ulay [her ex-boyfriend and collaborator of many years]. A rapturous silence descended on the atrium. Abramovi? immediately dissolved into tears, and for the first few seconds had trouble meeting Ulay's calm gaze. She turned from superhero to little girl – smiling meekly; painfully vulnerable. When they did finally lock eyes, tears streaked down Abramovi?'s cheeks; after a few minutes, she violated the conditions of her own performance and reached across the table to take his hands. It was a moving reconciliation scene – as Abramovi?, of course, was well aware.
The Dish 