Marina Abramovic

interview
with Mary Jane Jacob  (ed.Jacqueline Baas and Mary Jane Jacob, Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art, Uni of California Press 2004)

Fascination with process, phenomena changing, drew her from painting to performance art.
Began with body-based work, 'But then, where is the soul?'
Travelled to deserts and encountered their native cultures (Aboriginal, Tibetan), witnessed the lack of possessions and the highly developed mental capacities (telepathy, ESP)
Returned and developed her 'Night Sea Crossing' pieces, sitting with others for long periods - experience of heightened perception, meditative states, spaces changed by this different kind of energy; 'My entire relation to Buddhism came out of doing performances, through pure experience.'

Gold found by the artists, 1981, from the Night Sea Crossing series

Over a long period developed a relationship with Tibetan monks and created performance pieces with them.
Sees herself passing on her skills to new generations of artists in a similar unconditional way to Buddhist teachers.
Initially frustrated by an expectation that her work should develop in a linear way, one idea leading to another whereas in practice it didn't work like that; determined that if an interesting idea came to her, she would pursue it even if no obvious link with what had gone before 'because everything is connected...you are the connection.'
The pressures and deadlines of the performance situation create energy and focus: 'You need the point when you transform your low self into the higher self, and from thehighr self comes creation.'
Has lived the conflict between the pressures of creating art in society and a meditative responsibility-free life - different energy levels. 'So what I found out is the way I can do this is to create that kind of space inside the performance.', as in this piece: 

The House with the Ocean View, 2004

Lived in this space for 12 days, gazing at audience - transformative for her:
'What if I stand in front of the people and try to purify myself, just having this water; and could I purify the space with this energy. . . me as purified and purified space; can this change the energy field of the public? And really it happened. . . because i created a space with no time. I created the feeling of here and now. . . The House with the Ocean View  is really about love. . .I had an incredible feeling of unconditional love toward any person who came there. . .'
Her need to set the Buddhist idea of impermanence against society's worship of youth; some works deal with suffering as caused by attachment.
Sees the role of the artist is to share 'That's how Buddhism works in my own life.  I give art unconditionally so that it might have its own function in the life of everybody.'