Marina Abramović (born 1946 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is a renowned performance artist. She began her career in the early 1970s; the body has always been her subject and medium, exploring the boundaries of physical and mental potential.
In 1975, Abramović met Ulay, an artist with whom she shared the same day of birth and similar artistic interests. For the next two decades, they lived and worked together.
Abramovic has carried out a number of pivotal and dangerous performances, including her series of Rhythm performances. In Rhythm 5, she lay down inside a burning star of wood and had to be rescued by spectators. In Rhythm 0, perhaps her most infamous performance, she asked her audience to use various items -- some of them dangerous -- on her however they wished; according to one report,