Ahead of the opening of her first museum exhibition in Shanghai, Marina Abramović makes a case for ditching the digital in favour of harnessing the transformative power of energy
Many people would be unlikely to take up the chance to drink water that’s billions of years old water out of an ancient geode lined with amethysts—but then, performance artist Marina Abramović isn’t most people. In her own words, she “is all about the experience”. The compulsion came about from an insatiable curiosity, a love of crystals and an innate desire to test the limits of the human body and experience transformation. “I drank it thinking it was the most primordial water on the planet. I mean, can you imagine having something in your body that old?” she says, describing the water as a kind of elixir. “I wouldn’t recommend it, though, because I got really sick,” she admits. “But I drank it anyway because I was so excited to be able to taste it.”
Abramović has made a career out of proving that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Her art has come from difficult, challenging and often painful situations. For her 1974 performance Rhythm 0, for example, she invited audience members to do whatever they wanted to her by choosing an object from a selection placed on a table; some of the more violent actions included ripping off her clothing, placing a knife between her legs, putting a gun to her forehead and cutting into her skin.
At her 2010 The Artist is Present exhibition at MoMA in New York, she spent eight hours a day making intense eye contact with visitors. In 1988, her seminal The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk involved trekking 2,500km atop the Great Wall only to meet and break up with her then partner, the late German performance artist Ulay. She’s consistently tested the limits of human endurance, and in the process revealed the strength that can be derived from vulnerability.
Marina Abramović in her Manhattan studio (Photo: Tawfick Espriella)
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“I wanted to know where the mental physical emotional limits were; I wanted to know everything about [the body],” she says, explaining that her body constitutes the primary material in her art and was what drove her to pursue performance art. “I also wanted to create work that would speak to other people. I wanted to be a mirror for them, and stage difficult situations for them and see if that would help them get past their fear of pain, fear of dying, fear of all of it.”
The Serbian artist’s bold, confrontational works have left a lasting impact. While her contributions to art history cannot be understated—she defined contemporary performance art—it’s the influence of her work beyond the art world that resonates with generations of mainstream audiences. “So many of my generation stopped performing a long time ago; I’m probably the only one still around,” she says. “I will never give up—I will work till I die.”
The 77-year-old has been creating performance art for 55 years. Her current focus is her forthcoming exhibition Transforming Energy, at the Modern Art Museum (MAM) Shanghai. Curated by the institution’s artistic director Shai Baitel, it marks Abramović’s first museum exhibition in China.
The presentation is rooted in The Lovers: Great Wall Walk, for which she and Ulay each walked 2,500 km from either end of the fortification until they met in the middle, only to end their relationship and part ways. Abramović’s journey was documented through photographs—she recalls taking more than 3,500—and writing, much of which will be on display at the Shanghai show. “I wrote a lot of poetry [on that trip] because the landscape was incredible. Everything I saw inspired poetry to come out of my mouth.”
