Marina Abramovic Calls Lady Gaga Her Inspiration

Artist Marina Abramovic has been discussing her working relationship with Lady Gaga, who earlier this week appeared nude in a peculiar performance art video inspired by her work.

Abramovic told MTV that Gaga is a hardcore student, before remarking, “I had to blindfold her and she was in the forest for three hours, eaten by mosquitos and spiders, scratched by the bushes. It was quite incredible. Whatever I told her she met the exercise absolutely to the end, never complaining. And my exercises are pretty tough.”

Abramovic went on to state that Gaga spent three hours walking around the woods in the nude, searching for her “home,” even though she’d brought her a nurse’s uniform to wear for the exercise.

The artist added, “The idea was that artists, even blindfolded, have to have vision like a blind man. To feel with their entire body… She was in the fields and then the forest and by her pure intuition she had to find her way back home… During this exercise, completely of her own initiative, she took off her clothes. She just wanted to be in nature and to feel the elements.”

However, the artist did note that she was concerned that Gaga would catch lyme disease from the ticks in the area.

The pop star previously discussed her appreciation of the Serbian artist’s work in 2010, and ever since then they have looked to work together. Gaga filmed the piece to aid Abramovic’s Kickstarter campaign, which will used the funds generated to build an art centre for people to practice her methods.

Abramovic’s technique allows individuals to heighten their awareness of their physical and mental experience in the precent moment. This, in turn, develops skills that will assist performers when they attempt to perform long duration pieces, thanks to the exercises that Gaga demonstrates in the video.