Marina Abramovic Quotes & Sayings

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

“You see, what is my purpose of performance artist is to stage certain difficulties and stage the fear the primordial fear of pain, of dying, all of which we have in our lives, and then stage them in front of audience and go through them and tell the audience, 'I'm your mirror; if I can do this in my life, you can do it in yours.'”

“When I was 14, I thought I looked terrible. I wore these typical Slavic shoes with metal bottoms so you could always hear me coming and this really ugly princess skirt and blouse with the top button closed. I had a boy haircut, a baby face covered with pimples, and a really big nose.”

“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.”

“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.”

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

“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.”

“You know, everyone is always talking about plastic surgery, or the technology, what to do. I really think it's important to help yourself with the technology if you want to feel better, but I am absolutely against any kind of monstrous cuts of the body, lifting that is beyond recognition, this kind of stuff.”

“When you have a nonverbal conversation with a total stranger, then he can't cover himself with words, he can't create a wall.”

“People ask why there are so few female artists who succeed. It's because women are not ready to sacrifice as much as men. Women want a man, they want a family, they want to have children, they want to be loved, and to be an artist. And they can't; it's impossible.”