When Marina Abramović put on a performance in which she allowed members of the audience to do whatever they wanted to her, she made it clear nothing was off the table.
The artist set up the famous ‘Rhythm 0’ exhibit back in 1974, in which she stood still for six hours in a gallery alongside a table containing 72 objects.
Explaining why she did it, Abramović said: “Nobody believed in performance art, and I said, ‘Okay, I want to show if I actually do nothing. The public, if they want to kill me, they can kill me’.
“I was very foolish, I have to tell you, in that time, because I was absolutely going to the end, and I was lucky to survive.”
She was indeed lucky to survive as while some of the objects were quite pleasant with the likes of cake, grapes, flowers and perfume, there was also a gun, a bullet, a knife and various other implements which could be used to cause harm.
Marina Abramović performing ‘Rhythm 0’ (Marina Abramović Institute / YouTube)
A dangerous performance
The audience was also allowed to move her as they liked and at first people gave her flowers to hold and spun her around, but according to art critic Thomas McEvilley others ‘touched her somewhat intimately’ and as time went on the danger for Abramović grew.
Her clothes were cut from her, and then her skin was slashed, at one point she was cut on the neck and an audience member started drinking her blood.
She was sexually assaulted during the performance and eventually someone loaded the gun and placed it in Abramović’s hand, then moved it to her head and put her finger on the trigger.
The audience members started to turn on each other as some stepped in to try and defend Abramović from people who would very possibly try and kill the artist.
After six hours, Abramović simply started moving again and walked away, with her recounting that people started running away from her at this point.
A note explained everything the audience needed to know, the rest was up to them (Marina Abramović Institute/YouTube)
The note for the audience
To really hammer home the point that people could do anything they wanted, she left a chilling note on the table explaining to the audience what their part in the performance art was supposed to be.
The note read: “Instructions. There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired.
“Performance. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.”
Sadly, it seems the apparent lack of consequences led some audience members to put Abramović’s life in danger and cause her actual harm.
72 objects and six hours, the audience nearly killed her (Marina Abramovic Institute)
The long-term impact
The artist opened up about how performing Rhythm 0 changed her, explaining that she developed a white streak of hair on her head and struggled with feelings of fear for a long time.
Speaking to The Guardian, she said: “After the performance, I have one streak of white hair on my head.
“I cannot get rid of the feeling of fear for a long time. Because of this performance, I know where to draw the line so as not to put myself at such risk.”
She did perform other live artworks, including one which had a very real chance of killing her as she held a bow while her partner Ulay held the bowstring, and there was an arrow pointing directly at her heart.
If their grip faltered for the four minutes the performance went on, then Abramović would likely have died, though fortunately she did not.