Marina Abramović is not afraid of death. In fact, she is curious about it. “I just want to know how it feels,” she says, while watching a video of herself lying naked with a skeleton on top of her. The piece, titled Nude with Skeleton, is one of the four live performances that are being re-staged at her retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts in London, which runs until January 1, 2024.
The exhibition, which is the first major survey of Abramović’s work in the UK, spans five decades of her groundbreaking career as a performance artist. From her early experiments with sound, fire, and knives, to her collaborations with her former lover and artistic partner Ulay, to her recent explorations of spirituality and technology, the show presents a comprehensive overview of Abramović’s artistic evolution and vision.
Abramović, who has just turned 77, is widely regarded as the pioneer and the godmother of performance art. She has consistently tested the limits of her own physical and mental endurance in her work, subjecting herself to exhaustion, pain, and even the possibility of death. In her famous piece Rhythm 0, performed in 1974, she invited the audience to use any of the 72 objects on a table, ranging from a feather to a loaded gun, on her “as desired” for six hours. The result was a shocking display of human cruelty and vulnerability, as some people cut her, burned her, and pointed the gun at her head.
In another piece, Imponderabilia, first staged in 1977, she and Ulay stood naked facing each other in the doorway of a museum, forcing the visitors to squeeze between them to enter. The piece was a provocative exploration of the body and human relations, as well as a challenge to the conventions of art institutions. The piece is also being re-performed at the Royal Academy, with the help of two nude models, although Abramović agreed to offer a side door to those who prefer to avoid the experience.
Abramović’s work is not only about pushing her own boundaries, but also about inviting the audience to participate and to share in her emotions and sensations. She believes that performance art can be transformative, both for the artist and the viewer. In her most recent and celebrated piece, The Artist is Present, performed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2010, she sat silently at a table for eight hours a day, six days a week, for three months, and looked into the eyes of anyone who sat opposite her. The piece, which attracted more than 750,000 visitors, was a powerful demonstration of presence, connection, and empathy, as many people broke into tears or smiles while facing Abramović.
The piece is also a testament to Abramović’s resilience and stamina, which she attributes to her rigorous training and discipline. She follows a strict regimen of meditation, yoga, fasting, and breathing exercises, which she calls the Abramović Method. She also teaches this method to young artists and performers, who help her re-enact some of her works at the exhibition. She says that her method is not only a way to prepare for performance art, but also a way to cope with life’s challenges and uncertainties.
One of the biggest challenges that Abramović faced in recent years was the death of Ulay, who passed away in March 2020 after a long battle with cancer. The two had a tumultuous and passionate relationship, both personally and professionally, for 12 years. They met in Amsterdam in 1976, and became inseparable, creating iconic works such as Relation in Time, Rest Energy, and The Lovers, in which they walked from opposite ends of the Great Wall of China to meet in the middle and say goodbye. They separated in 1988, and did not speak for years, until they reconciled in 2010, when Ulay surprised Abramović by sitting across from her at The Artist is Present.
Abramović says that she still loves Ulay, and that his death was a huge loss for her. She also reveals that they had planned to do a joint exhibition at the Royal Academy, but it was cancelled due to the pandemic and his illness. She says that she decided to dedicate the exhibition to him, and to include some of their works together, as a tribute to their legacy and love.
Another challenge that Abramović faced was the pandemic, which forced her to isolate and to cancel many of her projects. She says that she used the time to reflect and to create new works, such as The Life, a mixed reality piece that uses holographic technology to project her image in front of the viewers, who wear special headsets. The piece, which is also part of the exhibition, is a meditation on presence and absence, life and death, and the future of art and humanity.
But perhaps the most life-threatening challenge that Abramović faced was an embolism that nearly killed her earlier this year. She says that she was in a coma for three days, and that she had a near-death experience, in which she saw a bright light and felt a sense of peace. She says that she was not afraid, and that she was ready to die, but that she chose to come back, because she still had unfinished work to do.
Abramović says that her brush with death has made her more appreciative of life, and more determined to continue her art. She says that she has many ideas and projects that she wants to realize, and that she is not planning to retire anytime soon. She says that she wants to die while performing, and that she has already written her last piece, which is called 7 Deaths of Maria Callas, in which she will re-enact the deaths of the famous opera singer in seven different operas.
Abramović’s exhibition at the Royal Academy is not only a retrospective, but also a celebration of her art of living and dying. It is a rare opportunity to witness the work of one of the most influential and courageous artists of our time, who has devoted her life to exploring the limits and the possibilities of the human condition. It is also an invitation to join her in her journey, and to experience her art with all our senses and emotions. As she says, “Don’t be a voyeur. Be a participant.”
