In 1974, artist Marina Abramović allowed the public to do whatever they wanted to her for six hours
An artist who carried out a controversial performance piece in 1974 revealed the one change it made to her body.
Performance artist Marina Abramović is known for her piece Rhythm 0.
This was a terrifying performance in which she placed a selection of 72 objects on a table.
Abramović then stood passively, while a note told people that they could do whatever they wanted to her with zero repercussions.
Instructions for the performance said: “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.”
Abramović shared that while at first the audience was tentative and nervous, as the performance continued, things became increasingly dark.
The artist revealed a change in her body after the piece (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Moco Museum)
When she got back to her hotel, she found that she had one notable change to her body.
She said: “I remember coming to the hotel that evening, looking at myself in the mirror and seeing really big piece of white hair.”
Speaking about the performance, she said: “In the beginning, the public was really very much playing with me. Later on, it became more and more aggressive.
“It was six hours of real horror. They would cut my clothes. They will cut me with a knife, close to my neck, and drink my blood, and then put the plaster over the wound.
“They will carry me around, half-naked, put me on the table, and stuck the knife between my legs into the wood.”
Two of the objects were a gun and a bullet, and Abramović recalled that one person had even put the bullet in the gun and aimed it at her.
Marina Abramović performing Rhythm 0 in 1974 (Marina Abramović Institute)
The artist described how the person had tested to see if she would resist them making her pull the trigger.
After six hours the performance was over, with Abramović describing what happened next.
“I start being by myself and start walking through the audience naked and with blood, and tears in my eyes, everybody run away, literally run out of the door.”
Speaking to the Guardian about the performance, Abramović said that she had been ‘ready to die’.
The aim of the piece had been to show how humans are capable of acting when we remove agency from someone else.
It also highlighted how women’s bodies are objectified and denigrated.
Recounting her experience, Abramović said: “The experience I drew from this piece was that in your own performances you can go very far, but if you leave decisions to the public, you can be killed.”
