Marina Abramovic was in Florence, Italy on Sunday for a book signing when a man thwacked her over the head with a portrait he, uh, made of her. Why? “I had to do it for my art,” he said, allegedly. Ah.
According to the New York Times, Abramovic was on her way out of the signing at the Palazzo Strozzi when the man, identified as Vaclav Pisvejc, approached her with the “rather distorted” framed portrait. “He came forward, staring me straight in the eyes and I smiled thinking that it was a present for me,” she told the paper. “In a fraction of a second I saw his expression change and become violent. You know, danger always comes very quickly, like death.” Then, he hit her over the head, which you can see/mostly hear in the video below:
Abramovic was stunned, but unhurt, according to the New York Times. Pisvejc is described as an “aspiring artist” from the Czech Republic, but according to someone in the above video, he “tries to make trouble at all the exhibits.” You’d think someone might want to get around to stopping him, but not so much.
Abramovic declined to press charges, and later asked to meet Pisvejc. When she confronted him about the attack, and why he did it, he reportedly said, “I had to do it for my art.” I must confess I find his art rather wanting, but I am not a professional critic, so I know nothing.
