Marina Abramović’s works, books and interviews sound like manifestos. Her life is like manifesto. She is an icon of performance art, whose works have become an important foundation for the development of contemporary art.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Marina Abramović. We met during her biggest retrospective exhibition in Europe, staged at the CoCA Toruń and organised in collaboration with the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Humlebæk, and the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn. From the beginning of her activity, the recipient has always been extremely important. What gives her this connection with another person?
“First of all, I am an artist. My duty is to use the language of art to communicate with my audience, and this is what I do. For me, the audience has always played an important role. […] I have the feeling that my public is extremely young. It is what I am looking for, because they are the ones that will stay. We are on the way out. They will give life to my work.” Maybe that’s why, on a basis of her own activity, she gives us a lot of ideas, tips, and declarations of the intentions, motives, or views of an artist or artistic life. Those of you who wrote “Walk Through Walls” knows a piece titled “An Artist’s Life Manifesto” – 3 old-fashioned list of rules for artists. Below you can find 8 Marina’s rules of life.
AN ARTIST’S CONDUCT IN RELATION TO WORK
An artist should avoid going to the studio every day
An artist should not treat his work schedule as a bank employee does
An artist should explore life and work only when an idea comes to him in a dream or during the day as a vision that arises as a surprise
An artist should not repeat himself
An artist should not overproduce
An artist should avoid his own art pollution
An artist should avoid his own art pollution
An artist should avoid his own art pollution
AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO SOLITUDE
An artist must make time for the long periods of solitude
Solitude is extremely important
Away from home
Away from the studio
Away from family
Away from friends
An artist should stay for long periods of time at waterfalls
An artist should stay for long periods of time at exploding volcanoes
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at fast-running rivers
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at the horizon where the ocean and sky meet
An artist should stay for long periods of time looking at the stars in the night sky
Marina Abramović, “Art Must be Beautiful, Artist Must be Beautiful”, performans, Charlottenburg Art Festival, Kopenhaga, Dania 1975, © Marina Abramović, Dzięki uprzejmości Archiwum Mariny Abramović
A LIST OF AN ARTIST’S ENEMIES
Enemies are very important
The Dalai Lama has said that it is easy to have compassion with friends but much more difficult to have compassion with enemies
An artist has to learn to forgive
An artist has to learn to forgive
An artist has to learn to forgive
AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO SYMBOLS
An artist creates his own symbols
Symbols are an artist’s language
The language must then be translated
Sometimes it is difficult to find the key
Sometimes it is difficult to find the key
Sometimes it is difficult to find the key
Marina Abramović, “The House with The Ocean View”, Performans, Sean Kelly Gallery, Nowy Jork, 2002, Fot. Attilio Maranzano, Dzięki uprzejmości Archiwum Mariny Abramović
AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO SILENCE
An artist has to understand silence
An artist has to dreate a space for silence to enter his work
Silence is like an island in the middle of a turbulent ocean
Silence is like an island in the middle of a turbulent ocean
Silence is like an island in the middle of a turbulent ocean
AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO SUFFERING
An artist should suffer
From the suffering comes the best work
Suffering brings transformation
Through the suffering an artist transcends his spirit
Through the suffering an artist transcends his spirit
Through the suffering an artist transcends his spirit
Marina Abramović, “Sleeping Under the Banyan Tree”, Performans dokamerowy, 2010, © Marina Abramović, Dzięki uprzejmości Archiwum Mariny Abramović
AN ARTIST’S RELATION TO HIS LOVE LIFE
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist
An artist should avoid falling in love with another artist
DIFFERENT FUNERAL SCENARIOS
An artist should give instructions before the funeral so that everything is done the way he wants it
The funeral is the artist’s last art piece before leaving
The funeral is the artist’s last art piece before leaving
The funeral is the artist’s last art piece before leaving
Marina Abramović, The Artist is Present, Performans, Museum of Modern Art, Nowy Jork
2010, Fot. Marco Anelli, Dzięki uprzejmości Archiwum Mariny Abramović
