From the very early stage when I started doing performance art in the '70s, the general attitude - not just me, but also my colleagues - was that there should not be any documentation, that the performance itself is artwork and there should be no documentation.

Marina Abramovic

We are used to cleaning the outside house, but the most important house to clean is yourself - your own house - which we never do.

Marina Abramovic

For me, performance is a holy ground. When I perform, I really step into a different state of consciousness.

Marina Abramovic

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

Marina Abramovic

So many artists say they're not aware of audience. For me is unbelievable.

Marina Abramovic

I had difficult mother, difficult childhood like she had. She is Sagittarius like I am. I almost died from broken heart because of love. And she really did.

Marina Abramovic

My mother and father had a terrible marriage. They celebrated their wedding anniversary one year with their friends. Why did they celebrate? Maybe because they had lasted so many years without killing each other.

Marina Abramovic

If you're a baker, making bread, you're a baker. If you make the best bread in the world, you're not an artist, but if you bake the bread in the gallery, you're an artist. So the context makes the difference.

Marina Abramovic

I am not a therapist. I am not a spiritual leader. These elements are in the art: it is therapeutic, spiritual, social and political - everything. It has many layers. But art has to have many layers. If it doesn't, then forget it.

Marina Abramovic

There are good artists that have children. Of course there are. They are called men.

Marina Abramovic

I had three abortions because I was certain that it would be a disaster for my work.

Marina Abramovic

If you're a woman, it's almost impossible to establish a relationship. You're too much for everybody. It's too much. The woman always has to play this role of being fragile and dependent. And if you're not, they're fascinated by you, but only for a little while. And then they want to change you and crush you. And then they leave.

Marina Abramovic

You know, art is very emotional business. But mostly it becomes not emotional, the fabric of commodity. It becomes business. It becomes so many different things. Because we forgot there was emotions involved.

Marina Abramovic

One of the most wonderful things for me is to watch somebody else perform, where I am the audience - I love this more than ever.

Marina Abramovic

Performance is there, and if you are not there in that moment it happened, it just stays in the memory. It's so immaterial and something this immaterial is very difficult to collect. Its difficult to buy, its how we can buy immaterial art.

Marina Abramovic

Woody Allen has a wonderful line: 'Today I'm a star. What will I be tomorrow? A black hole?' That's very important to know - that you have the moment, then you lose the moment. You have to see your chances, you have to take them, and you also have to see when you don't have chances to take.

Marina Abramovic

The only theatre I do is my own. Somehow, my life is the only life that I can play.

Marina Abramovic

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.

Marina Abramovic

I always sent my mother all these huge books I made. When my mother died, I was cleaning her cupboard, and these big books were only 20 pages long.

Marina Abramovic

The entire aim of my work is to elevate the human spirit. We can put the human spirit down so easily.

Marina Abramovic

Marina Abramovic Quotes

From the very early stage when I started doing performance art in the '70s, the general attitude - not just me, but also my colleagues - was that there should not be any documentation, that the performance itself is artwork and there should be no documentation.

We are used to cleaning the outside house, but the most important house to clean is yourself - your own house - which we never do.

For me, performance is a holy ground. When I perform, I really step into a different state of consciousness.

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

So many artists say they're not aware of audience. For me is unbelievable.

I had difficult mother, difficult childhood like she had. She is Sagittarius like I am. I almost died from broken heart because of love. And she really did.

My mother and father had a terrible marriage. They celebrated their wedding anniversary one year with their friends. Why did they celebrate? Maybe because they had lasted so many years without killing each other.

If you're a baker, making bread, you're a baker. If you make the best bread in the world, you're not an artist, but if you bake the bread in the gallery, you're an artist. So the context makes the difference.

I am not a therapist. I am not a spiritual leader. These elements are in the art: it is therapeutic, spiritual, social and political - everything. It has many layers. But art has to have many layers. If it doesn't, then forget it.

There are good artists that have children. Of course there are. They are called men.

I had three abortions because I was certain that it would be a disaster for my work.

You know, art is very emotional business. But mostly it becomes not emotional, the fabric of commodity. It becomes business. It becomes so many different things. Because we forgot there was emotions involved.

One of the most wonderful things for me is to watch somebody else perform, where I am the audience - I love this more than ever.

Performance is there, and if you are not there in that moment it happened, it just stays in the memory. It's so immaterial and something this immaterial is very difficult to collect. Its difficult to buy, its how we can buy immaterial art.

Woody Allen has a wonderful line: 'Today I'm a star. What will I be tomorrow? A black hole?' That's very important to know - that you have the moment, then you lose the moment. You have to see your chances, you have to take them, and you also have to see when you don't have chances to take.

The only theatre I do is my own. Somehow, my life is the only life that I can play.

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.

I always sent my mother all these huge books I made. When my mother died, I was cleaning her cupboard, and these big books were only 20 pages long.

The entire aim of my work is to elevate the human spirit. We can put the human spirit down so easily.