Marina Abramovic Thinking Quotations

Today, our attention is less than the television advertisement. We're looking at six or seven problems constantly. We're living in the disturbed societies of cities. I think modern technology is one of the worst things human beings have invented.

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

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.

Artists should never think of themselves as an idol. Fame is a side effect of one's work.

There are so many rules in the art world. I don't like rules and I break them all the time. I don't care if people think I'm overexposed. What I care about is if I'm going to run out of energy. Overexposure is only a problem if you are drained of energy and cannot come up with new ideas. Every artist has to recognize that and know when to stop for a moment.

My new work deals with emptying my body: 'Boat emptying, stream entering.' This means that you have to empty the body/boat to the point where you can really be connected with the fields of energy around you. I think that men and women in our Western culture are completely disconnected from that energy, and in my new work I want to make this connection possible.

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.

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.