Marina Abramovic 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.

I think communication starts when words are not present at all ... I think we put so much emphasis on language, actually silence is so much more important.

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.

Because we never stop silently loving those who we once loved out loud

I am only interested in the ideas that become obsessive and make me feel uneasy. The ideas that I'm afraid of.

True love for whatever you are doing is the answer to everything.

A great artist has to be ready to fail.

Your ego can become an obstacle to your work. If you start believing in your greatness, it is the death of your creativity.

When you have so much pain, you think you will lose consciousness. If you say to yourself, ‘So what, lose consciousness,’ the pain goes away.

If we go for the easy way, then we never change.

Don't even ask me why. I do not know, I have no answer to this insane behaviour.

Happiness comes from the full understanding of your own being.

Time is an illusion. Time only exists when we think about the past and the future. Time doesn't exist in the present here and now.

I have always staged my fears as a way to transcend them.

Why not do something strange and different for once? Artists can do whatever they want!

I just want to create situations where people forget time.

We are actually living in a million parallel realities every single minute.

An artist should not fall in love with another artist.

The hardest thing to do is something that is close to nothing.

The only thing I have learned is to find strength in yourself. No one can help you, no one can do anything for you, you have to do the work yourself.

To me the pain and the blood are merely means of artistic expression.

Art comes from life, not from the studio

I've always asked myself since I was young, what is my duty on this planet? What am I there for? Just to hang around? Everybody must have some purpose.

We always project into the future or reflect in the past, but we are so little in the present.

From the moment you are born, you could die. I think as an artist it is important to meditate on that.

Most people are more comfortable with what is familiar. I’ve spent my life doing the opposite.

All my inspiration comes from life. That's how it never stops, in a way.

I hate studio. For me, studio is a trap to overproduce and repeat yourself. It is a habit that leads to art pollution.

With classical ballet you are literally injuring yourself.

The only way to change consciousness and the world around us is to start with yourself.

I have found that long durational art is really the key to changing consciousness. On such a deep level. Not just the performer, but the one looking at it.

I am pure performance, and Robert Wilson is pure theater.

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.

I realise the power of art that does not hang on the walls of galleries.

I believe so much in the power of performance I don't want to convince people. I want them to experience it and come away convinced on their own.

If you see a Renaissance body, this is completely ugly in this time. Everybody has to be skinny. But the Renaissance body with incredible flow of the meat everywhere, it was beauty.

But what is art other than revealing human nature?

We always want to do things the way we like, that's why we never change.

Because of technology, we don't develop telepathy. We don't use telepathy, but use, you know, the mobile phones. Why?

It's okay that we're not perfect. It's okay that we all have problems. It's okay to cry, to show emotions.

For me, the most difficult piece is the one I'm about to make.

When you have a nonverbal conversation with a total stranger, then he cant cover himself with words, he cant create a wall.

The most revolutionary ideas are not sellable, but only mind-changing.

You go to India and you see the poorest village somewhere in the middle of India. And the poor family is happier than any rich billionaire in this country because of spirituality.

My grandmother, when she looked at American movies, she said, 'They're all the same. In the first scene somebody shoots somebody and then everybody makes phone calls.'

When you're 50, the best thing to do is dance the Argentinean tango.

People put so much effort into starting a relationship and so little effort into ending one.

Television is completely another medium. For me, Lady Gaga and HBO are bringing us to mass culture.

I really like dark, politically incorrect humor.

In real life, you just work for the ordinary self, but in the front of audience you become the superself. That's a completely different thing.