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This is an extraordinary novel, based in the New York art world, specifically at MoMA .  Marina Abramovic is performing her 75 day long performance piece: The Artist is Present.   Six hundred thousand  people visit, some queuing overnight for the chance to sit opposite her in silence, while she meets their gaze.

 

Names from the art world are mentioned, and those real people are brought in to sit opposite Abramovic without queuing.   The device of including actual individuals  is intriguing as the narrative see-saws between fact and fiction.  Abramovic seems able to connect with each individual facing her for however long.  The question of celebrity and connection hangs in the air.

 

Although Rose had permission to write about the event, and clearly has known Abramovic, and studied her thought, she was not party to the feelings the artist really had while sitting immobile and uninterrupted for 75 days.

 

Arky Levin, a composer of film music, left in limbo by his wife’s refusal to see him after her debilitating stroke is  disconnected, alone.  Daily he compulsively visits Abramovic’s performance and her silent drama of connection.  At night he builds a ‘Marina’ in his lonely flat and sits with the pile of cushions, only to feel lonelier. 

 

The story is gripping, cleverly written and offers insights into Abramovic’s world by focusing on Levin’s.   Her words are significant; “I am only interested in art that can change society” and  “Everything is about connection.  Until you understand what connects you, you have no freedom”.