Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović

Marina Abramović (born November 30, 1946) is a Serbian conceptual and performance artist. Her work explores body art, endurance art, the relationship between the performer and audience, the limits of the body, and the possibilities of the mind.

Quotes

New York Times Magazine interview (2023)

"Marina Abramovic Thinks the Pain of Love Is Hell on Earth" by David Marchese. New York Times Magazine (October 26, 2023).

• When I conceive work, I always want it to deal with three elements of human fears: suffering, pain and the priority of our existence.

• So many people choose to take pain as a way of life; there’s people who live a painful life in order to punish other people who they don’t want to be happy. To me it’s really about the choices you make in your life.

• The ego is the most dangerous thing for an artist. That you start believing in your grandeur, that’s the end of your creativity.

• Performance art never became a commodity because it’s immaterial.

• If you think of anybody else selling work for millions, it’s the opposite for performance people. I still have a huge mortgage to pay. I still have to work every day because I never have the kind of money like artists who produce objects.

• Instagram is not art. Social media is not art.

• I love humans. To me, the most interesting are the ones who are angry, who are difficult, who are constantly unsatisfied. How can I help them to elevate the spirit and change themselves? This is my favorite thing to do. It’s so interesting to see how people are different. I understand energy.

• Risk just for risk, I’m not interested. If you create something artificial, it’s not good. People are so afraid of simplicity, but it works.

• It is important not to fear pain, to understand pain and accept it. Then pain is much more bearable.

• There is something that I believe: When you’re in balance with yourself and your surroundings, everything happens that’s supposed to happen.