1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:09,176 Now... 2 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,280 let's go back in time. 3 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,560 It's 1974. 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:20,520 There is the gallery somewhere... 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:23,600 in the world, 6 00:00:25,080 --> 00:00:28,376 and there is a young girl, aged 23, 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:30,920 standing in the middle of the space. 8 00:00:32,759 --> 00:00:36,080 In the front of her is a table. 9 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:41,880 On the table there are 76 objects 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:45,440 for pleasure and for the pain. 11 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,696 Some of the objects are 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,520 a glass of water, a coat, a shoe, a rose. 13 00:00:55,160 --> 00:01:00,640 But also the knife, the razor blade, the hammer... 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:04,239 and the pistol with one bullet. 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,216 There are instructions which say, 16 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:10,976 "I'm an object. 17 00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:14,336 You can use everything on the table on me. 18 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,440 I'm taking all responsibility -- even killing me. 19 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,520 And the time is six hours." 20 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:27,400 The beginning of this performance was easy. 21 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,856 People would give me the glass of water to drink, 22 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:33,520 they'd give me the rose. 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:36,896 But after very soon, 24 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,416 there was a man who took the scissors and cut my clothes, 25 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:44,440 and then they took the thorns of the rose and stuck them in my stomach. 26 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,280 Somebody took the razor blade and cut my neck and drank the blood. 27 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:51,680 And I still have the scar. 28 00:01:52,720 --> 00:01:55,280 The women would tell the men what to do. 29 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:00,816 And the men didn't rape me because it was just a normal opening, 30 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:02,536 and it was all public, 31 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:04,936 and they were with their wives. 32 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,216 They carried me around and put me on the table, 33 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,136 and put the knife between my legs. 34 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,800 And somebody took the pistol and bullet and put it against my temple. 35 00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,560 And another person took the pistol and they started a fight. 36 00:02:18,920 --> 00:02:21,656 And after six hours were finished, 37 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:24,176 I... 38 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:27,336 started walking towards the public. 39 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:28,576 I was a mess. 40 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:32,920 I was half-naked, I was full of blood and tears were running down my face. 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:36,880 And everybody escaped, they just ran away. 42 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:42,280 They could not confront myself, with myself as a normal human being. 43 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:44,080 And then -- 44 00:02:45,080 --> 00:02:46,560 what happened 45 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:51,720 is I went to the hotel, it was at two in the morning. 46 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:54,760 And... 47 00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:57,880 I looked at myself in the mirror, 48 00:02:58,520 --> 00:03:02,320 and I had a piece of gray hair. 49 00:03:04,080 --> 00:03:05,440 Alright -- 50 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:08,040 please take off your blindfolds. 51 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:13,040 Welcome to the performance world. 52 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,880 First of all, let's explain what is the performance. 53 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,376 So many artists, so many different explanations, 54 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,160 but my explanation for performance is very simple. 55 00:03:23,640 --> 00:03:28,216 Performance is a mental and physical construction 56 00:03:28,240 --> 00:03:31,056 that the performer makes in a specific time 57 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,376 in a space in front of an audience, 58 00:03:34,400 --> 00:03:36,720 and then energy dialogue happens. 59 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:40,800 The audience and the performer make the piece together. 60 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,360 And the difference between performance and theater is huge. 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:49,696 In the theater, the knife is not a knife 62 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,640 and the blood is just ketchup. 63 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,576 In the performance, the blood is the material, 64 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,896 and the razor blade or knife is the tool. 65 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:03,816 It's all about being there in the real time, 66 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:05,696 and you can't rehearse performance, 67 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:10,040 because you can't do many of these types of things twice -- ever. 68 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:13,856 Which is very important, the performance is -- 69 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,176 you know, all human beings are always afraid of very simple things. 70 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,576 We're afraid of suffering, we're afraid of pain, 71 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:23,680 we're afraid of mortality. 72 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:25,496 So what I'm doing -- 73 00:04:25,520 --> 00:04:29,736 I'm staging these kinds of fears in front of the audience. 74 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:31,936 I'm using your energy, 75 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:37,736 and with this energy I can go and push my body as far as I can. 76 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,336 And then I liberate myself from these fears. 77 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:42,656 And I'm your mirror. 78 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:45,960 If I can do this for myself, you can do it for you. 79 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:48,776 After Belgrade, where I was born, 80 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,080 I went to Amsterdam. 81 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,056 And you know, I've been doing performances 82 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:56,336 since the last 40 years. 83 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:57,936 And here I met Ulay, 84 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:01,336 and he was the person I actually fell in love with. 85 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:04,496 And we made, for 12 years, performances together. 86 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,776 You know the knife and the pistols and the bullets, 87 00:05:07,800 --> 00:05:10,736 I exchange into love and trust. 88 00:05:10,760 --> 00:05:14,376 So to do this kind work you have to trust the person completely 89 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:17,416 because this arrow is pointing to my heart. 90 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,776 So, heart beating and adrenaline is rushing and so on, 91 00:05:21,800 --> 00:05:26,320 is about trust, is about total trust to another human being. 92 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:29,536 Our relationship was 12 years, 93 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,416 and we worked on so many subjects, both male and female energy. 94 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:37,576 And as every relationship comes to an end, ours went too. 95 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:41,256 We didn't make phone calls like normal human beings do 96 00:05:41,280 --> 00:05:43,256 and say, you know, "This is over." 97 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:46,280 We walked the Great Wall of China to say goodbye. 98 00:05:46,640 --> 00:05:50,720 I started at the Yellow Sea, and he started from the Gobi Desert. 99 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,576 We walked, each of us, three months, 100 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:56,440 two and a half thousand kilometers. 101 00:05:56,800 --> 00:05:58,776 It was the mountains, it was difficult. 102 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,136 It was climbing, it was ruins. 103 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:04,256 It was, you know, going through the 12 Chinese provinces, 104 00:06:04,280 --> 00:06:08,096 this was before China was open in '87. 105 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,656 And we succeeded to meet in the middle 106 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:13,160 to say goodbye. 107 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:16,160 And then our relationship stopped. 108 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,960 And now, it completely changed how I see the public. 109 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:24,416 And one very important piece I made in those days 110 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:26,416 was "Balkan Baroque." 111 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:29,136 And this was the time of the Balkan Wars, 112 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,696 and I wanted to create some very strong, charismatic image, 113 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:36,016 something that could serve for any war at any time, 114 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:40,056 because Balkan Wars are now finished, but there's always some war somewhere. 115 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:42,056 So here I am washing 116 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:45,856 two and a half thousand dead, big, bloody cow bones. 117 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:49,416 You can't wash the blood, you never can wash shame off the wars. 118 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:54,016 So I'm washing this six hours, six days, and wars are coming off these bones, 119 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:57,280 and becoming possible -- an unbearable smell. 120 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:00,496 But then something stays in the memory. 121 00:07:00,520 --> 00:07:03,256 I want to show you the one who really changed my life, 122 00:07:03,280 --> 00:07:07,416 and this was the performance in MoMa which just recently I made. 123 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,776 This performance, when I said to the curator, 124 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:12,776 "I'm just going to sit at the chair, 125 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,336 and there will be an empty chair at the front, 126 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:18,856 and anybody from the public can come and sit as long as they want." 127 00:07:18,880 --> 00:07:20,096 The curator said to me, 128 00:07:20,120 --> 00:07:22,776 "That's ridiculous, you know, this is New York, 129 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:24,016 this chair will be empty, 130 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:25,945 nobody has time to sit in front of you." 131 00:07:25,969 --> 00:07:27,136 (Laughter) 132 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:29,056 But I sit for three months. 133 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:31,016 And I sit everyday, eight hours -- 134 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:32,416 the opening of the museum -- 135 00:07:32,440 --> 00:07:35,336 and 10 hours on Friday when the museum is open 10 hours, 136 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:36,534 and I never move. 137 00:07:36,558 --> 00:07:39,416 And I removed the table and I'm still sitting, 138 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:41,560 and this changed everything. 139 00:07:41,960 --> 00:07:44,296 This performance, maybe 10 or 15 years ago -- 140 00:07:44,320 --> 00:07:45,736 nothing would have happened. 141 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:50,656 But the need of people to actually experience something different, 142 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:52,776 the public was not anymore the group -- 143 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:54,800 relation was one to one. 144 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,896 I was watching these people, they would come and sit in front of me, 145 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,616 but they would have to wait for hours and hours and hours 146 00:08:01,640 --> 00:08:02,798 to get to this position, 147 00:08:02,823 --> 00:08:04,376 and finally, they sit. 148 00:08:04,400 --> 00:08:05,960 And what happened? 149 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,576 They are observed by the other people, 150 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,176 they're photographed, they're filmed by the camera, 151 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:12,576 they're observed by me 152 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,760 and they have nowhere to escape except in themselves. 153 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:17,816 And that makes a difference. 154 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:19,656 There was so much pain and loneliness, 155 00:08:19,680 --> 00:08:23,776 there's so much incredible things when you look in somebody else's eyes, 156 00:08:23,800 --> 00:08:26,776 because in the gaze with that total stranger, 157 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,800 that you never even say one word -- everything happened. 158 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,176 And I understood when I stood up from that chair after three months, 159 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:36,775 I am not the same anymore. 160 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,576 And I understood that I have a very strong mission, 161 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:42,856 that I have to communicate this experience 162 00:08:42,880 --> 00:08:44,135 to everybody. 163 00:08:44,159 --> 00:08:46,976 And this is how, for me, was born the idea 164 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:51,000 to have an institute of immaterial performing arts. 165 00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:54,216 Because thinking about immateriality, 166 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,696 performance is time-based art. 167 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:57,056 It's not like a painting. 168 00:08:57,080 --> 00:08:59,856 You have the painting on the wall, the next day it's there. 169 00:08:59,880 --> 00:09:04,576 Performance, if you are missing it, you only have the memory, 170 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:06,936 or the story of somebody else telling you, 171 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:08,896 but you actually missed the whole thing. 172 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:10,136 So you have to be there. 173 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,056 And in my point, if you talk about immaterial art, 174 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,456 music is the highest -- absolutely highest art of all, 175 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:18,256 because it's the most immaterial. 176 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,138 And then after this is performance, and then everything else. 177 00:09:21,162 --> 00:09:22,696 That's my subjective way. 178 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:26,616 This institute is going to happen in Hudson, upstate New York, 179 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:29,640 and we are trying to build with Rem Koolhaas, an idea. 180 00:09:29,960 --> 00:09:31,216 And it's very simple. 181 00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:35,896 If you want to get experience, you have to give me your time. 182 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,016 You have to sign the contract before you enter the building, 183 00:09:39,040 --> 00:09:41,896 that you will spend there a full six hours, 184 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,576 you have to give me your word of honor. 185 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:46,496 It's something so old-fashioned, 186 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:49,856 but if you don't respect your own word of honor and you leave before -- 187 00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:51,096 that's not my problem. 188 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,616 But it's the six hours, the experience. 189 00:09:53,640 --> 00:09:56,783 And then after you finish, you get a certificate of accomplishment, 190 00:09:56,807 --> 00:09:58,856 so get home and frame it if you want. 191 00:09:58,880 --> 00:09:59,896 (Laughter) 192 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:01,256 This is orientation hall. 193 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:05,776 The public comes in, and the first thing you have to do is dress in lab coats. 194 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:07,016 It's this importance 195 00:10:07,040 --> 00:10:11,256 of stepping from being just a viewer into experimenter. 196 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:13,696 And then you go to the lockers 197 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:17,016 and you put your watch, your iPhone, your iPod, your computer 198 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:19,336 and everything digital, electronic. 199 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:23,696 And you are getting free time for yourself for the first time. 200 00:10:23,720 --> 00:10:27,096 Because there is nothing wrong with technology, 201 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:29,456 our approach to technology is wrong. 202 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,176 We are losing the time we have for ourselves. 203 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:35,496 This is an institute to actually give you back this time. 204 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:36,776 So what you do here, 205 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,896 first you start slow walking, you start slowing down. 206 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,856 You're going back to simplicity. 207 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,496 After slowing walking, you're going to learn how to drink water -- 208 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,160 very simple, drinking water for maybe half an hour. 209 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:51,936 After this, you're going to the Magnet Chamber, 210 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:55,856 where you're going to create some magnet streams on your body. 211 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,336 Then after this, you go to Crystal Chamber. 212 00:10:58,360 --> 00:11:01,136 After Crystal Chamber, you go to Eye-Gazing Chamber, 213 00:11:01,160 --> 00:11:05,256 after Eye-Gazing Chamber, you go to a chamber where you are lying down. 214 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:07,736 So it's the three basic positions of the human body, 215 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:09,096 sitting, standing and lying. 216 00:11:09,120 --> 00:11:10,656 And slow walking. 217 00:11:10,680 --> 00:11:12,496 And there is a sound chamber. 218 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:14,856 And then after you've seen all of this, 219 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,023 and prepared yourself mentally and physically, 220 00:11:17,047 --> 00:11:19,714 then you are ready to see something with a long duration, 221 00:11:19,738 --> 00:11:22,096 like in immaterial art. 222 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:25,976 It can be music, it can be opera, it can be theater piece, 223 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:28,896 it can be film, it can be video dance. 224 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,736 You go to the long duration chairs because now you are comfortable. 225 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:34,136 In the long duration chairs, 226 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,856 you're transported to the big place where you're going to see the work. 227 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:39,096 And if you fall asleep, 228 00:11:39,120 --> 00:11:41,656 which is very possible because it's been a long day, 229 00:11:41,680 --> 00:11:44,136 you're going to be transported to the parking lot. 230 00:11:44,160 --> 00:11:45,776 (Laughter) 231 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:48,616 And you know, sleeping is very important. 232 00:11:48,640 --> 00:11:51,416 In sleeping, you're still receiving art. 233 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,136 So in the parking lot you stay for a certain amount of time, 234 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,416 and then after this you just, you know, go back, 235 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:00,776 you see more of the things you like to see 236 00:12:00,800 --> 00:12:02,840 or go home with your certificate. 237 00:12:03,280 --> 00:12:06,696 So this institute right now is virtual. 238 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,576 Right now, I am just making my institute in Brazil, 239 00:12:09,600 --> 00:12:11,267 then it's going to be in Australia, 240 00:12:11,291 --> 00:12:14,416 then it's coming here, to Canada and everywhere. 241 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:17,936 And this is to experience a kind of simple method, 242 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:20,856 how you go back to simplicity in your own life. 243 00:12:20,880 --> 00:12:22,840 Counting rice will be another thing. 244 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:25,656 (Laughter) 245 00:12:25,680 --> 00:12:28,176 You know, if you count rice you can make life, too. 246 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,376 How to count rice for six hours? 247 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:32,096 It's incredibly important. 248 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,256 You know, you go through this whole range of being bored, being angry, 249 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:40,736 being completely frustrated, not finishing the amount of rice you're counting. 250 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,536 And then this unbelievable amount of peace you get 251 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:46,016 when satisfying work is finished -- 252 00:12:46,040 --> 00:12:47,840 or counting sand in the desert. 253 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:52,096 Or having the sound-isolated situation -- 254 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,696 that you have headphones, that you don't hear anything, 255 00:12:54,720 --> 00:12:57,416 and you're just there together without sound, 256 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:02,296 with the people experiencing silence, just the simple silence. 257 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:06,536 We are always doing things we like in our life. 258 00:13:06,560 --> 00:13:08,816 And this is why you're not changing. 259 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:10,296 You do things in life -- 260 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,720 it's just nothing happens if you always do things the same way. 261 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:19,296 But my method is to do things I'm afraid of, the things I fear, 262 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:20,816 the things I don't know, 263 00:13:20,840 --> 00:13:23,696 to go to territory that nobody's ever been. 264 00:13:23,720 --> 00:13:26,576 And then also to include the failure. 265 00:13:26,600 --> 00:13:28,336 I think failure is important 266 00:13:28,360 --> 00:13:32,096 because if you go, if you experiment, you can fail. 267 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,776 If you don't go into that area and you don't fail, 268 00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:37,800 you are actually repeating yourself over and over again. 269 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:42,136 And I think that human beings right now need a change, 270 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:46,256 and the only change to be made is a personal level change. 271 00:13:46,280 --> 00:13:48,856 You have to make the change on yourself. 272 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:51,376 Because the only way to change consciousness, 273 00:13:51,400 --> 00:13:53,416 and to change the world around us, 274 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:55,136 is to start with yourself. 275 00:13:55,160 --> 00:13:57,656 It's so easy to criticize how it's different, 276 00:13:57,680 --> 00:13:59,823 the things in the world and they're not right, 277 00:13:59,847 --> 00:14:03,096 and the governments are corrupted and there's hunger in the world 278 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,576 and there's wars -- the killing. 279 00:14:06,600 --> 00:14:09,176 But what we do on the personal level -- 280 00:14:09,200 --> 00:14:12,160 what is our contribution to this whole thing? 281 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:16,056 Can you turn to your neighbor, the one you don't know, 282 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:20,200 and look at them for two full minutes in their eyes, right now? 283 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,336 (Chatter) 284 00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:30,256 I'm asking two minutes of your time, that's so little. 285 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:35,616 Breathe slowly, don't try to blink, don't be self-conscious. 286 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:37,256 Be relaxed. 287 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:42,680 And just look a complete stranger in his eyes. 288 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:45,280 (Silence) 289 00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:24,680 Thank you for trusting me. 290 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:30,720 (Applause) 291 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:34,960 Chris Anderson: Thank you. 292 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,040 Thank you so much.