Marina Abramovic is a Serbian artist known as the patron of performance, her experiences seeking to explore the relationship between the artist and the public, as well as the physical and mental limits of the human being.
Early in her career, Marina Abramovic felt that painting was not enough to express her feelings and chose to transform her body into a means to express everything she felt and lived.
- Abramovic’s most important artistic productions were “Os Ritmos”.
- Made between 1973 and 1974.
- According to the artist.
- The words that characterized the performances were sound and time.
- Consciousness and unconsciousness.
Rhythm 0 was the last experiment in this series, it was the largest and most experimental of all, sought to test social boundaries and free will, the artist and the public never imagined the results of this experiment.
Abramovic’s experimental performance consisted of staying completely still for 6 hours from 8 p. m. at 2 a. m. the show could not be stopped under any circumstances.
Next to him was a table full of objects, 72 in total, among them there were a great variety of tools to provide pleasure or pain, for example, among the objects of pleasure there were flowers, a rose, a soap, a feather, a hairpin and a scarf, among others. Among the objects of pain were a hammer, scissors, a knife, a whip, and a revolver.
“There are seventy-two utensils on the table that can be used with me however you want. Am I the object?-Marina Abramovic-
The only order for viewers was for them to use the objects as they wished, and Marina Abramovic took full responsibility for everything that could happen to her when performing.
The main objective of this type of show was to answer the question: what would the public do in a situation freely to do what they wanted?
Marina Abramovic’s experience was quiet at first, but very intense in the end, during the first three hours there was no problem, instead all the spectators were very respectful and friendly, one even kissed her and the other handed her one of the roses. the table.
In the last three hours, everything has gradually changed, viewers have become unpredictable and even violent, a man cut his throat. Another wrote lipstick on his forehead, also cut off his clothes with scissors, among other types of humiliations.
However, the limit came when one of the spectators loaded the gun and pointed to Marina, at that time the audience was divided into two groups: those who defended and those who wanted to continue the abuses, which led the custodians of the museum to throw the shooting out the window, intervening in the development of the performance.
At the end of the six-hour show, Marina Abramovic began to move and tried to get closer to her audience, but they all left the room for fear of retaliation from the artist, Marina has gone from a taxable person to an active subject, capable of responding. to the humiliations suffered.
One way or another, the experiment has revealed the hidden side of the human psyche when there are no social boundaries, what has happened leads us to reflect on freedom, responsibility, authority and respect, to what extent we are overwhelmed by our personal desires and desires. what can we do when we feel empowered and unlimited?
Marina Abramovic’s experience has shown how easy it is for some people to show a violent attitude towards someone who cannot defend themselves and who is not protected, the artist was humiliated and dehumanized by her viewers.
From the beginning of the program she knew she was at great risk, even confessed that she was ready to die during the experiment, at the end of the presentation stated that the results were unexpected and that leaving control in the hands of the public can lead to experiences as dangerous as the possibility of dying.