Being on Erasmus in Graz has this unexpected side effect: Vienna suddenly feels like your extended studio. It’s close enough to go for a day, intense enough to completely reset your brain, and aesthetically overwhelming in the best way.
So of course I had to go see Marina Abramović at the Albertina.
And honestly? I didn’t just see it. I felt slightly attacked by it. In a good way.
Marina doesn’t “perform” in the traditional sense. She endures. She waits. She stares. She pushes her body until the audience becomes uncomfortable. And as a graphic designer, I kept thinking about something very simple:
What does it mean to hold attention without decoration?
We are trained — especially in design — to add. Add color. Add texture. Add typography. Add hierarchy. Marina removes. She reduces everything to presence.
One of the most striking things about her work is how minimal it looks visually, but how maximal it feels emotionally. A body in a space. A chair. Silence. And suddenly the entire room is charged.
As someone who works with composition daily, I couldn’t stop noticing how carefully controlled everything is. The framing of her body. The stillness. The gaze. It’s basically radical minimalism with psychological impact.
And seeing this at the Albertina in Vienna — a city that breathes classical art history — made it even more powerful. Marina’s work feels like a confrontation inside institutions that are used to oil paintings and decorative frames.
As an artist, I’m obsessed with how she uses time as material. In graphic design, time is rarely part of the equation. It’s static. Print. Screen. Instant consumption. But Marina stretches time until it becomes uncomfortable.
It made me rethink pacing in my own work. What if a design doesn’t scream? What if it waits?
Also, being on Erasmus changes how you experience art. You’re already displaced. You’re already questioning your identity a bit. Seeing Marina’s work — which is so much about vulnerability, endurance, and self-exposure — hits differently when you’re living between countries.
If you’re in Austria, go. Even if you think performance art is “not your thing.” It’s less about liking it and more about confronting it.
More info:
Albertina Museum: https://www.albertina.at
Marina Abramović Institute: https://mai.art
