A biography for Marina Abramovichasn’t been written yet.
“Theater is something that as a performance artist you have to hate.”
“You know, James Franco is one of the most interesting figures because he has no rules. He breaks all the borders.”
“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.”
“I really don't like art where you need to know so much theory to understand. If the theory is removed, it doesn't do anything. That means that this work is an illustration of theory, and I don't believe in the power of the work itself.”
“I think 21st century should be art without objects.”
“The entire aim of my work is to elevate the human spirit. We can put the human spirit down so easily.”
“You know how you feel somebody looking at you, and you turn, and somebody actually is? It's the same at an art gallery. You're looking at one portrait, turn around, and there is a work of art directly behind you. Because it's all energy. Every single thing has energy.”
“Even now, I have traces of the good little girl. When I am not performing, for instance, I am really very quiet and ordinary.”
“You know, art is very emotional business. But mostly it becomes not emotional, the fabric of commodity. It becomes business. It becomes so many different things. Because we forgot there was emotions involved.”
“My mother and father were partisan national heroes: I learned sacrifice and discipline from them and that a private life is not as important as the message you want to leave.”
“The big problem of our modern society is that we feel that we are separated from the nature. But it's just the opposite. We are interrelated and our DNA is the same. And only when human beings understand that, the nature will not be obstacle.”
“If you're a woman, it's almost impossible to establish a relationship. You're too much for everybody. It's too much. The woman always has to play this role of being fragile and dependent. And if you're not, they're fascinated by you, but only for a little while. And then they want to change you and crush you. And then they leave.”
“I have the greatest respect for Aborigine people, to whom I owe everything. The time I spent with members of the Pijantjatjara and Pintupi tribes in Australia was a transformative experience for me and one that has deeply and indelibly informed my entire life and art.”
“In America, everyone's always hiding their age.”
“I can explain my work to the cleaner or the president; it's all the same to me. I am very communist in this way.”
“The hardest thing to do is something that is close to nothing.”
“I used to have a recurring dream where I was at a party in a country house, surrounded by the same people each evening. Everyone would be singing and dancing and after a while I came to know the people; though, of course, they never really existed.”
“People have so much pain inside them that they're not even aware of.”
“Because of technology, we don't develop telepathy. We don't use telepathy, but use, you know, the mobile phones. Why?”
“Most of the time, the artists are not supposed to wear the fashion. It is always seen as a vanity. But I think I don't need to prove anything in my life. I can honestly say I love fashion and I can be many things at the same time.”