The artist who was ‘ready to die’ after letting people do anything to her for six hours has revealed the worst act that the spectators committed.
Marina Abramović from Serbia is known for her performance art. Perhaps her most famous instalment took place in 1974 when she stood for six hours next to a table with numerous objects on and allowed spectators to do whatever they wanted to do to her, with no reaction. She called it Rhythm 0.
She placed 72 objects on a table ranging from flowers and apples to a loaded gun and knives.
She said: “I am an object. You can do whatever you want with me and I will take full responsibility for the 6 hours.“
At the beginning, the audience were timid and didn’t want to get involved.
However, things changed when one participant lifted the artists arm. This prompted others to get involved, when they realized she really wasn’t going to react.
Others allegedly began using one of the knives to cut Marina’s skin and clothes.
Over the six hour period, the acts became more and more horrific.
In an interview in 2010 with The Guardian, Marina said:
“I still have the scars of the cuts,”. She claimed she ‘wanted to die’ after the ordeal.
Opening up about the worst thing that was done to her, she shared , “A man pressed the gun hard against my temple. I could feel his intent. And I heard the women telling the men what to do.
“The worst was the one man who was there always, just breathing. This, for me, was the most frightening thing.”
“Because of this performance, I know where to draw the line so as not to put myself at such risk,” she said.
“It was a little crazy,” the artist continued. “I realised then that the public can kill you. If you give them total freedom, they will become frenzied enough to kill you.”
Wild.
