Artist who had nine orgasms in public museum for performance reveals the most difficult part of the process

Marina Abramović's performance piece which led her to have nine orgasms saw the artist run into one particular 'problem'.

The queen of performance art and considered a revolutionary in the field, Marina Abramović has raised a fair few eyebrows with her exhibitions over the years.

And her recreation of a performance by artist Vito Acconci titled 'Seedbed' was certainly no exception.

Acconci's 1972 performance piece saw him masturbate for eight hours every day for nine days straight at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York City.

In 2005, Abramović performed her own version at the Guggenheim Museum - also in New York.

And it was 'really not' an 'easy' feat for the artist, who later opened up about her main 'problem' with the whole experience.

During the performance, Abramović ultimately ended up experiencing nine orgasms.

Marina Abramović is considered a pioneer of performance art (Joseph Okpako/WireImage)

And she told New York Art it 'really' wasn't 'easy' to have orgasms 'publicly'.

"Being excited by the visitors steps above me - it's really not easy, I tell you! I've never concentrated so hard in my life," she added.

But the real 'problem' for her when it came to this piece? "[It] was the absence of public gaze: only the sound," she explained.

Breaking down the performance in greater detail, the artist explained to YouTube channel Fashion Neurosis: "The piece required masturbation of eight hours under the stage, and the public can just hear my voice on the top.

"You know I take this stuff seriously, so it was complicated because it was like I do this seven hours, more than five orgasms and it was really difficult because next day I have to do performance on something else, I was exhausted.

"I wanted to do [art] piece with the female energy."

Nevertheless, Abramović 'heard people had a great time'.

And if you thought Abramović's take on Seedbed was shocking, well, wait until you hear about some of her other art.

Marina Abramović's other controversial art

Abramović's performance art raises a fair few eyebrows (Stefano Guidi/Getty Images)

Rhythm 0 (1974)

'Rhythm 0' was a six-hour long endurance piece performed by Abramović in the Galleria Studio Mora in Naples in 1974.

It was the final performance of her Rhythm Series and saw the artist stand stock still in a room, viewers invited to come and do whatever they wanted to her - 72 objects placed on a table in front of her, to be used at their disposal.

While some items included bread, honey and perfume, others included scissors, nails and even a gun and bullet.

The piece questioned how far people go when given the invitation to do absolutely anything, alongside being given suggested utensils to use and experiment with.

By the end of it she said she was 'ready to die'.

Genital Panic (2005)

In November 2005, Abramović repeated the work of Valie Export at the Guggenheim Museum, New York.

The work in question? 'Genital Panic', which saw Abramović sit on a chair with a gun while wearing crotchless trousers, exposing her genitals.

Abramović's recreation seeing various differences to Export's - from what she was wearing, to holding a Kalashnikov assault rifle and being in a museum not an adult film cinema.

The Artist is Present (2010)

Taking place from March to May 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, 'The Artist is Present', saw Abramović turn up every day for three months and sit opposite an empty chair.

Audience members were invited to sit opposite her and have a silent conversation. Alan Rickman took part in the exhibition, as did Abramović's ex Ulay.