HUMAN NESTS – 2001

Using her body as a human vehicle to undertake her projects which include video, performance and sculpture, Marina Abramovic investigates the physical and mental limitations of her long career. “Performance has allowed me to jump into other spaces and dimensions”, says the artist. For twelve years she formed an artistic duo with Ulay with whom she developed her most famous performances, concluding this period with the performance “The Lovers”, in which each of them travelled the 2,000 kilometres of the Great Wall of China to finally say goodbye.

“Human Nests” are seven large cavities, large enough such that a person can fit sitting down, excavated from the surface of one of the walls of the abandoned sand quarry. A rope ladder was hung from each hole, these made by local artists using indigenous vegetable fibres. The highest is located at a height of 30m. For Marina these nests are places for contemplation. The nest envelops the person who enters it and makes them feel protected but at the same time fragile and insecure, as one must concentrate on not falling. This is the largest project the artist has undertaken during her career.