An artist has shared her motivation for taking extreme actions in pursuit of her art.
Some might question the logic behind placing a gun and knives on a table and inviting strangers to interact with your body. However, for Marina Abramovic, a performance artist, there is a significant purpose behind these actions.
If Marina Abramovic, a Serbian performance artist, is a new name to you, prepare to delve into an intriguing world. By the time you finish reading, you’ll likely be curious to explore more about the 77-year-old’s work.
In 1974, in Naples, Italy, Abramovic, then 26, informed onlookers that she would accept ‘full responsibility’ for their actions towards her and was even prepared to risk her life for her art.
She titled the piece Rhythm 0, which saw her surrendering herself to the audience’s will from 8.00pm to 2.00am. During this time, her clothes were torn, her throat was cut to drink her blood, and someone aimed a loaded gun at her head, placing her fingers on the trigger.
Although it seems shocking to many, this performance captivated audiences globally and is considered one of the most significant pieces of performance art in history.
But what drives her to pursue such drastic measures in her artistic endeavors?
In an interview with the Royal Academy, she explained: “Yes, a big one. If there’s something I would like to do, I don’t do it. I only do something if I’m afraid of it, because that’s the whole point.
“If we always tend to do things that we like, then we are creating the same pattern, making the same mistakes again, and we never get out into unknown territory.
“I remember when I first had the first idea for The Artist is Present, I said to myself, ‘Oh my god, I’m crazy. How can I do this for three months?’, but then I became obsessed. And it was so hard.”
She added: “It was supernatural to do this – to sit in front of thousands of different people, eight hours a day for three months. There were days when I thought I could not continue. But I did it. And this came out of the complete fear that I could not do it.
“At the same time, The Artist is Present was my big chance to show the public the power, the transformative power, of performance art, by literally doing nothing – by just being in a space and being noticed.
“And then came this incredible thing: people sleeping outside the museum, standing there for hours to see the work. It had 850,000 visitors, which broke records for any living artist. And this was absolutely by being still, being the eye of the tornado.”