Tired of the pointless expressions of ego that masquerade as modern (post-modern? post-post-modern?) art nowadays? You might have an unlikely ally in a woman who will sit naked on public display for a couple of days at the end of this month as a peculiar “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” protest against the vapidity of the art world.

Dr. Lisa Levy is a licensed psychologist who has decided to become a performance artist in order to give the art world what she feels is a well-justified kick in the shins. On January 30 and 31, for her show “The Artist Is Humbly Present,” she will sit, unclothed, on a toilet across from an empty seat, which spectators are welcome to inhabit.

Both the title of the piece and the piece itself are obvious callbacks to Marina Abramović‘s 736-hour show at the Museum of Modern Art, The Artist Is Present, which garnered a great deal of attention in 2010. In the show Abramović sat motionless and speechless in a large MoMA atrium with a table and an empty chair in front of her. She was wearing clothes throughout and was sitting on a regular wooden chair.
 

Marina Abramović, The Artist Is Present
 
Levy’s quotations on the annoying art world are pretty priceless:
 

“Ego and pretense has seriously fucked with the quality of work being made in the art world.”

“(I’m) tired of the bullshit trendy art dialogue about how the art world is driven by rich people who want shiny work and don’t care about meaning as well.”

“I was really pissed and aggravated about the pretense, competition and the amount of bullshit in the art world.”

“I think ego interferes with art making, it makes the artist self-conscious. The most direct way to make the artwork is the least egoic way possible.”

 
Levy says that the show is “kind of a joke” before lapsing into the same kind of blather that actual big-deal artsy-fartsy types engage in: “I’m most excited about the experience,” said Levy. “I am really curious to see how the people will react. It’s a social experiment, like a lot of my work.”

Hmmm. Almost like you are doing something both pointless and extreme to shake up people’s assumptions, right?

If you want to go visit Levy’s MAD Magazine-style art protest, you’ll be able to do so at the Christopher Stout Gallery in New York City on January 30 and 31.
 
via Dazed/Abramović Photo: Marco Anelli

Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Marina Abramović makes an Adidas commercial for the World Cup
Sex Magick: Marina Abramovic’s Balkan Erotic Epic (NSFW)