Pushing the limits of her own body and performance art is nothing new to Marina Abramović. However, one piece sticks out as being especially taxing even by her norms.
The controversial 2005 performance at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, which was a reworking of Vito Acconci’s notorious 1972 piece Seedbed, was revisited by the Serbian artist in a recent interview. She described the experience as “terrible,” “complicated,” and physically taxing.
In his original work, Acconci performed a private act in a gallery under a ramp while reacting to people passing by. The narrative was reversed in Abramović’s rendition, which examined gender, energy, and creativity from a feminine point of view.
“I tell you, it’s really not easy to have intense physical experiences in public while being stimulated by visitors’ footsteps above me!” In 2005, Abramović told New York Art. “Never in my life have I focused so intently.”
The act required incredible endurance, even if the audience could only hear her voice and never see her. She achieved nine climaxes in a single session, which she now remembers as exhausting.
“I was really tired,” she remarked. “I was barely able to function when I had to do a different performance the following day.”
Abramović discussed the psychological and physical toll in further detail during a more recent visit on Bella Freud’s Fashion Neurosis podcast.
According to her, “the piece required hours of intense focus under the stage.” It became pretty challenging after a while. Even though I was exhausted, I persevered because I take my work seriously.
Abramović believed that the purpose of the art performance was change rather than provocation. The culmination, according to her, was a moment of unadulterated vitality and a bond with nature.
“You experience nature, life, and the birds, rocks, and trees—everything becomes luminous,” she said.
By juxtaposing Acconci’s initial metaphor of seeding with her own understanding of creation, presence, and vulnerability, she aimed to investigate what feminine energy may produce.
Abramović is unrepentant in her approach as usual. “I don’t pretend,” she declared. “I don’t ever pretend.”
What do you think?
