Marina Abramovic's My London

The performance artist has tea in Claridge’s and is romanced by Londoners every day
Marina Abramovic

Home is…

SoHo, New York. I like it because I can walk everywhere.

Where do you stay in London?

In Fulham. But every day I am at the Serpentine Gallery at 10am. I greet each member of the public coming in, then I perform for eight hours. At 5.45pm, I stand in the front of the gallery and say goodnight to everybody. A car takes me home, where I take a bath in the dark with Dead Sea salt for one hour; and every other day I get a massage from Henry Johnson at Pure Hands in the City. I’m in bed by 9.20pm.

Most romantic thing someone’s done for you?

Every single day people come to the Serpentine and give me romantic things: flowers; leaves from trees; a ring against evil; and beautiful letters. Today I got a four-leaf clover for good luck.

What would you do as Mayor?

I would make people hold each other more. Londoners are incredibly formal, and all so suspicious!

Earliest London memory?

I first came here totally penniless in 1971, when I was 24, and got a job as a postwoman. One day I decided that all the letters written on a typewriter must be either bills or something else unpleasant, so I threw them all away and only delivered the more romantic handwritten letters. After three weeks I was asked to return the uniform.

Best thing a cabbie has said to you?

They’re always the same — just talking about the weather.

First thing you do when you arrive?

I’m incredibly old-fashioned. My favourite thing is to go to Claridge’s for tea and have Earl Grey and salmon and cucumber sandwiches alongside all the old ladies with their blue hair and lovely hats.

Favourite shops?

In the past seven years I haven’t had to go to a single shop; everything is given to me.

Favourite bar?

I don’t drink, ever in my life. I don’t go to pubs. I don’t like alcohol; I don’t like the smell and I don’t like the taste.

Building you’d like to be locked in overnight?

The British Museum. I’d like to be stuck in the Egyptian section. I’d probably be scared — but I’d like that.

Best meal?

I love the new Chiltern Firehouse restaurant. I like anything fishy, especially the monkfish and the octopus.

Biggest extravagance?

To have a day off, with a café latte and a newspaper to read. I need to maintain normality — just to do nothing for one day is the biggest luxury.

Best piece of advice?

One of my old professors said to me, ‘If you draw with your right hand and you’re so great that you can do it with your eyes closed, immediately change to the left. Otherwise you repeat yourself.’

Last album you downloaded?

Antony and The Johnsons’ Swanlights. I love him — his voice is like an angel; he’s one of the best singers I have ever known.

What are your favourite London discoveries?

I like the very strange, eccentric societies that you have.

Favourite London walk?

London Fields and the canal nearby. I go there to hide from the rest of the world.

Who’s your hero?

I like the Dalai Lama, because he said something that’s really important: ‘The only way to stop killing in the world is to learn to forgive.’

ES Magazine was speaking to Marina Abramovic at a cocktail party held in her honour at Illy, 295 Regent Street. Marina Abramovic: 512 Hours is at the Serpentine Gallery until 25 August (serpentinegalleries.org)

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