I hate studio. For me, studio is a trap to overproduce and repeat yourself. It is a habit that leads to art pollution.
Marina AbramovicRead
All the aggressive actions I do to myself I would never dream of doing in my own life - I am not this kind of person. I cry if I cut myself peeling potatoes. I am taking the plane, there is turbulence, I am shaking. In performance, I become, somehow, like not a mortal.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses a disconnect between the artist's aggressive persona during performance and her gentler, vulnerable self in real life.
Marina Abramovic highlights the contrast between her real self and her performance identity. While she embodies strength and fearlessness on stage, in her personal life, she experiences fear and sensitivity. This duality underscores the challenging nature of performance art and reveals how artists may transcend their mortal fears to create powerful experiences, yet remain deeply human in their everyday lives.
Themes
PerformanceArtVulnerabilityIdentityFear
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in an art class to discuss the nature of vulnerability in performance art.
More from Marina Abramovic
All quotes →The function of the artist in a disturbed society is to give awareness of the universe, to ask the right questions, and to elevate the mind.
Marina AbramovicRead
First of all, to do performance art, you really have to give 100 percent. I only know that I have to give 100 percent and then what happens, happens.
Marina AbramovicRead
Theatre is fake... The knife is not real, the blood is not real, and the emotions are not real. Performance is just the opposite: the knife is real, the blood is real, and the emotions are real.
Marina AbramovicRead
I want people to come to me open and vulnerable. When they come to the gallery, they have to leave their watches, their computers, their Blackberrys, iPads, iPhones, because we are so incredibly used to technology, and I wanted to remove that.
Marina AbramovicRead
When you have heartbreak, what's important is that you don't go halfway. Go all the way down. Don't take pills that keep you in limbo. Cry out all the feelings. Then your own energy for life will put you up again. You become stronger.
Marina AbramovicRead
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