Lady Gaga believes being vomited on during a concert was "art in its purest form".

The singer turned heads at the SXSW festival in Texas recently by having an aide purposely vomit liquid onto her mid-set.

This prompted people to complain that it was glamourising eating disorders and a petition was started to stop her from doing such acts in the future.

Gaga appeared on the Today show this morning (March 21) to promote her upcoming 'G.U.Y.' video and she was asked if she was surprised by the stunt's reaction.

She said: "I guess we weren't completely surprised. [Millie Brown] and I know that not everybody's going to love that performance. But we both really believe in artistic expression and strong identities. I support her and what she does.

"'ARTPOP', my new album, is about bringing art and music together and the spirit of creative rebellion. For us, that performance was art in its purest form. But we totally understand that some people won't be into it."

Gaga added: "Did we want the controversy? I suppose it doesn't matter. Either way, we don't make things for any intention in particular other than in the spirit of entertaining the crowd and creating something that is really for the moment. It wasn't meant for the Today show. It was meant for a club performance in Austin, and we had a great time."

Watch Lady Gaga perform at SXSW below: