Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramovic
Marina Abramovićis a Yugoslav performance artist based in New York. Her work explores the relationship between performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind. Active for over three decades, Abramović has been described as the "grandmother of performance art." She pioneered a new notion of identity by bringing in the participation of observers, focusing on "confronting pain, blood, and physical limits of the body."...
NationalitySerbian
ProfessionPerformance Artist
Date of Birth30 November 1946
CountrySerbia
When people ask me where I am from I never say, 'Serbia.' I always say, 'I come from a country that no longer exists.'
I used to have a recurring dream where I was at a party in a country house, surrounded by the same people each evening. Everyone would be singing and dancing and after a while I came to know the people; though, of course, they never really existed.
So many artists say they're not aware of audience. For me is unbelievable.
One of the most wonderful things for me is to watch somebody else perform, where I am the audience - I love this more than ever.
The big problem of our modern society is that we feel that we are separated from the nature. But it's just the opposite. We are interrelated and our DNA is the same. And only when human beings understand that, the nature will not be obstacle.
In theater, blood is ketchup; in performance, everything's real.
People have so much pain inside them that they're not even aware of.
I want to dominate the man's world.
Talking about performance is such a strange thing because it's so immaterial. We are talking about soft matter. We are talking about something that is invisible. You can't see it. You can't touch it. You just can feel it.
There's nothing more tragic than artists from the 70s still doing art from the 70s.
In the performer's body, you don't care how you look. It doesn't matter if you're old, fat, beautiful, or ugly. It doesn't change anything. The only thing is your charisma and how you express your idea.
The world doesn't need an artist who shows reality as it is
A powerful performance will transform everyone in the room.
I never say Serbia. I always say I come from a country that no longer exists.