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.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of full commitment in performance art, regardless of the outcome.
Marina Abramovic's quote highlights the necessity of complete dedication and effort in the realm of performance art. She conveys that true artistry requires giving everything you have, and despite uncertainties about the final result, the act of fully engaging in the process is what matters most. This reflects a broader philosophy about the value of commitment and authenticity in creative endeavors.
In practice
During a speech at an art festival, one could use this quote to inspire emerging artists to give their all to their craft.
All the aggressive actions I do to myself I would never dream of doing in my own life - I am not this kind of person. I cry if I cut myself peeling potatoes. I am taking the plane, there is turbulence, I am shaking. In performance, I become, somehow, like not a mortal.
I hate studio. For me, studio is a trap to overproduce and repeat yourself. It is a habit that leads to art pollution.
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.
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.
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.
When you have heartbreak, what's important is that you don't go halfway. Go all the way down. Don't take pills that keep you in limbo. Cry out all the feelings. Then your own energy for life will put you up again. You become stronger.
All art is contemporary art because it had to be made when it was now.
Everything can be going well, but if I'm not writing, I'm not happy. When I'm writing well, I'm like a different person.
If you want to be an actor, you must have total, ruthless commitment to your art. Don't be ambitious for fame or TV or movies. Art is a jealous mistress and will brook no competitors. Study all the time. Never stop reading. Never stop learning speeches. It will fill you up - define and refine you.
No art is less spontaneous than mine. What I do is the result of reflection and the study of the great masters.
I think if you say that art and politics, or religion and politics, mustn't mix, don't mix, that is itself a political statement. Even if you are writing a 19th-century novel where the money comes from a plantation in the Caribbean and you don't talk about that, that itself is a political thing.
Art-making is not about telling the truth but making the truth felt
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