Marina Abramović is an avant garde Serbian performance artist who is perhaps best known for her piece at the Museum Of Modern Art in New York City where she sat in a chair for more than 700 hours and stared at anyone who would sit across from her (and cried a lot). She recently developed something called the Abramović Method, which, according to her website, “helps participants to develop skills for observing long durational performances through a series of exercises and environments designed to increase awareness of their physical and mental experience in the moment.”

The Abramović Method has already gained some significant attention thanks to Lady Gaga, who practices the method quite nakedly in a video that surfaced yesterday. Gaga learned the method at a three day retreat last week and, in the clip, seems to be providing some sort of pseudo celebrity endorsement for a Kickstarter dedicated to building up the Marina Abramović Institute.

The video feels like something right out of a Jodorowsky movie (perhaps that’s who “Alejandro” was really written about). There is a lot of monotone chanting, crystal hugging, and what seems to be dry heaving. Watch below, but be warned: It’s (obviously) super NSFW.


The Abramovic Method Practiced by Lady Gaga from Marina Abramovic Institute on Vimeo.