Marina Abramović offered everything from flowers to guns for spectators to use
An artist who invited spectators to do whatever they wanted to her for six hours has revealed the worst thing she experienced as a result.
Most people avoid letting strangers touch them if they can help it, but Marina Abramović decided to throw that instinct out of the window as part of an artistic performance she put on in 1974.
The artist, who is originally from Serbia, traveled to Naples and began her performance by placing 72 objects on a table.
Marina placed everything from flowers to guns for people to use (YouTube/Marina Abramovic Institute)
She then invited members of the public to do ‘whatever’ they wanted to her with the objects over the course of six hours in the performance, which she dubbed ‘Rhythm 0’.
According to the Marina Abramović Institute, she told the crowd: “I am an object. You can do whatever you want with me and I will take full responsibility for the 6 hours.”
The objects Marina offered up for use included everything from flowers and apples to knives and a loaded gun.
The audience were initially hesitant to get involved, but things took a turn after one member of the public lifted Marina’s arm.
Other people then began to close in, tearing at her clothes and even allegedly using the knife to cut Marina’s skin.
Over the following six hours, Marina was subject to increasingly horrifying acts, leading her to admit that she was ‘ready to die’ as the minutes ticked on.
“I still have the scars of the cuts,” Marina said in a 2010 interview with The Guardian in which she opened up about her ordeal, which included people blindfolding her and throwing cold water on her.
Marina Abramović revealed someone pressed a gun to her temple (Elisabetta A. Villa/Getty Images)
Marina also spoke about the ‘worst’ part of the performance.
She recalled: “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.”
Marina revealed that the performance left her with ‘one streak of white hair’, as well as a long lasting ‘feeling of fear’.
“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.”
