How artist achieved nine orgasms in public museum for a performance that she says was 'terrible'

An artist has revealed how she managed to achieve nine orgasms while performing in a public museum which she said was 'terrible.'

Marina Abramović, a Serbian conceptual and performance artist, is no stranger to controversy having done several 'bizarre' shows in her time.

Her work includes body art and endurance art, as well as pushing the boundaries of the relationship between the performer (often herself) and the audience.

The 78-year-old has even insisted she would die for her work, and came dangerously close to that possibility back in 1974 when she invited spectators to do anything to her and her body.

Now, Abramović has spoken out about another risqué performance that she once slammed as 'terrible'.

Marina Abramović has pulled off some serious stunts in her time (Bruce Glikas/Getty Images)

The artist took to the Guggenheim Museum in New York City in 2005 with a vision to recreate a performance by American performance artist, Vito Acconci.

Acconci's performance, called Seedbed, saw him masturbate for eight hours a day for nine days straight at the Sonnabend Gallery in New York.

Intrigued by the concept, Abramović decided to bring the performance to life herself, but with a female spin.

Speaking to New York Art at the time, she said: “I have a lot of respect for this piece. It’s very different from my own work. He performed it for nine days, eight hours a day. The whole idea of him producing seeds, a metaphor for creation—for me it was extremely important to know what the woman is producing.

"I went for the idea of producing moisture and heat."

She continued: "Having 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.

The Serbian artist reflected on her 2005 performance (Fashion Neurosis/YouTube)

“The problem for me, with this piece, was the absence of public gaze: only the sound. But I heard that people had a great time; it was like a big party up there! I ended with nine orgasms.

"It was terrible for the next piece—I was so exhausted!”

As to how she managed to achieve a whopping nine orgasms in a day, Abramović said she had some 'sexy magazines' to hand, but didn't 'really' use them, instead simply concentrating on the sounds and 'on the idea that I had to have orgasms'.

The artist continued: "And so I did. I don’t fake it—I never fake anything," in case you were wondering.

Abramović later revealed in an interview on Fashion Neurosis that she grounded herself in feeling 'connected to nature,' even with all those eyes gawping at her while doing her most private business.

She said: “You know feeling orgasm is such an important moment, you feel life, connected to nature, birds the rocks, the trees, everything becomes luminous and beautiful. So if people discover that more, hopefully people are less s***.”

She continued: "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.”

That, and her decision not to 'rehearse' the show could have helped, as she told New York Mag: "I don’t rehearse, because performance art is not about rehearsal; that’s what makes it different from theater."