CONNECTION, CRYSTALLISED

Ahead of the opening of her first museum exhibition in China, Marina Abramović makes a case for ditching the digital in favour of embracing the transformative power of energy

- Aaina Bhargava

Many people would be unlikely to take up the chance to drink water that’s billions of years old water out of an ancient geode lined with amethysts—but then, performance artist Marina Abramović isn’t most people. In her own words, she “is all about the experience”. The compulsion came about from an insatiable curiosity, a love of crystals and an innate desire to test the limits of the human body and experience transformation. “I drank it thinking it was the most primordial water on the planet. I mean, can you imagine having something in your body that old?” she says, describing the water as a kind of elixir. “I wouldn’t recommend it, though, because I got really sick,” she admits. “But I drank it anyway because I was so excited to be able to taste it.”

Abramović has made a career out of proving that what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Her art has come from difficult, challenging and often painful situations. For her 1974 performance Rhythm 0, for example, she invited audience members to do whatever they wanted to her by choosing an object from a selection placed on a table; some of the more violent actions included ripping off her clothing, placing a knife between her legs, putting a gun to her forehead and cutting into her skin. At her 2010 The Artist is Present exhibition at MoMA in New York, she spent eight hours a day making intense eye contact with visitors. In 1988, her seminal The Lovers: The Great Wall Walk involved trekking 2,500km atop the Great Wall only to meet and break up with her then partner, the late German performance artist Ulay. She’s consistently tested the limits of human endurance, and in the process revealed the strength that can be derived from vulnerability.