She once asked an officer if she could fly a fighter to “paint the sky with smoke.” She was refused, citing the fact that she had a nervous breakdown. But the impression of supersonic aircraft leaving an elusive contrail in the sky turned out to be unusually strong and inspired Abramovich to become a performance artist: “From that day on I stopped drawing. Instead, I began to pay more attention to what is around me and use it in my work. It took me a while to realize that I myself can be my art. “
In addition to Tibetan culture, Marina Abramovich was impressed by the culture of Australian aborigines: in the 1980s she lived with them in central Australia. “These two cultures have taught me to control my physical / mental body,” she says. In numerous interviews, including a recent questionnaire on Reddit, Abramovich stated that she never intended to get married or have children.
In her Manifesto of an Artist’s Life, Abramovich writes that “an artist should avoid having a love relationship with another artist.” Responding to a Reddit questionnaire on July 31, 2013, she explains, “I’ve done this three times in my life, and each time it ended with my broken heart. I judge from my own experience. This is a very competitive situation that is difficult to describe in a nutshell. And this is a subject for a long conversation. It is better to look at the artists who lived together (both in the past and now) and understand how tragic everything happened with them. “
In 1997, she performed Balkan Baroque, during which she brushed 1,500 cow bones six hours a day. The work was done for the Venice Biennale. During the performance, she also sang and told stories about Belgrade, her hometown.
In 1975, Marina Abramovich performed the performance “Lips of Thomas”: first she cut a five-pointed communist star on her stomach with a razor, then whipped herself, and then lay down for 30 minutes on a piece of ice in the shape of a cross, which stood under a heater. One day Marina’s grandmother found her while preparing this performance unconscious and with burnt hair.
Actor James Franco gave her complete creative freedom in making a film about his life. She said that Franco provided her with tons of materials and gave her complete freedom of action. “I think he’s the most interesting of the actors right now. – says Marina. – Why? Because he takes risks, and when you take risks, you can fail. He accepts failure and risk with equal strength. He could be just another Hollywood actor and that’s it, like everyone else. But he goes beyond all sorts of boundaries, and not always successfully. For him, the process is more important than the result. “
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